An Interview With The Beyoncé-Approved Alien Superstar Fan
I Just Want To Acknowledge The Alien, Too.
Otherworldly. This is one, of many ways, to describe Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. The record-smashing production criss-crossed 39 cities and 17 countries this past summer. Along the way, it also inspired a bevy of Tik Toks, memes, eye-watering resell prices, and a list of fashion credits in the hundreds. The tour—in promotion of an album squarely inspired by the manifold (and oft-overlooked) contributions of Black and brown artists to house music and ballroom culture—explored opulent futurism through visual codes and themes. The dizzying gumbo of bodacious references and more-is-more fashion made sense. One of the marquee performances is for a track called “Alien Superstar” after all.
One Beyoncé fan, however, decided to boldly match Beyoncé in her maximalist era by becoming an “alien superstar” himself. 27-year-old Tameer Peak decided to don a bespoke alien mask to a whopping 9 shows of the Renaissance World Tour in various cities and countries. “I told people I’m not going to Beyoncé’s show to see Beyoncé,” the Newark, New Jersey resident told me, recounting his expensive, but immensely fulfilling, endeavor. “I’m going so she can see me.” The maneuver—which ultimately cost Peak somewhere around $25-$30,000—worked. Peak earned onstage shoutouts from Queen Bey not once, but three times. During one (of three) shows in Los Angeles, Beyoncé even took a pause in-between songs to say, “I just want to acknowledge the alien. You’ve been to a lot of shows, you are committed. You are killing it, superstar.” From that moment on, Peak really did become a superstar within the BeyHive, the affectionate name for passionate Beyoncé fans, and the shoutout spread across the internet like wildfire. Receiving a coronation from Queen Bey is not an honor to be taken lightly. Much less one bestowed to an alien.
Peak’s Bey-Approved status did not end there. When Parkwood representatives reached out regarding licensing his image for the tour’s concert film, which was released this week, he decided to take things one step further and shoot his shot. He emailed and asked if he could attend the film’s premiere in Los Angeles—in his now internet-famous alien mask. He received a yes. Suddenly, there Peak was amongst stars such as Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, Lizzo, Janelle Monàe, and more, dressed as an alien. He was one of the most circulated images of the night. “NOT THE ALIEN GOT AN INVITE,” one person posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. It was the ultimate pinch-me moment for Peak, who particularly saw himself in Beyoncé’s globe-spanning ode to Black and brown queer culture. “The tour created a microcosm of self-love, liberation, and queer Black excellence,” Peak said, reflecting on the show’s enduring personal significance. “It was a safe space for three hours.” Now with his image in Renaissance: A film, a red carpet appearance for the books, and the internet’s love, Peak has a way of remembering it all forever.
Below, Peak tells me how his “alien superstar” evolved from an on-the-whim idea, how exactly he ended up attending 9 shows, and pairing Zara with sample sale Dion Lee pieces.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
How did you get an invite to the movie premiere?
Someone reached out to me to license one of my photos for the movie -- I was skeptical about it. Because I had previously been in a Parkwood production back in 2019. I’d seen that the email was different, and I didn’t know who this lady was that reached out to me. They wanted to license one of my photos for the film, so that happened. Then I was like, hmmm, I should probably reach out to somebody to see if I could at least go to the carpet. So I ended up finding someone’s contact from Parkwood. I was like, “Hey, I know that there is a premiere coming up. I was the fan that was dressed up as an alien at multiple shows, would it be possible to come?” They said, I’ll see what I can do, I’ll chat with you soon. A couple of days later I received the email that I was invited.
Did you fly yourself out to LA?
Oh, yes. Because I already planned on going to the red carpet. When you stay ready, you never have to get ready.
What was the 2019 Parkwood project you were involved in?
Black Is King. 2019 is when it was filmed. I was a background extra, credited as “additional cast.” I was in the “Already” music video. I guess you could say I’m… in the outskirts of the entertainment world.
How many shows did you ultimately end up attending?
9 shows. I made that happen through resell mostly… and I spent a pretty penny on that. The first shows I went to was in London. I decided I was going to London because the tour date in Jersey was way more expensive, and, like, the price I was going to pay to get tickets on the floor [in New Jersey] were going to be more than if I went overseas and saw multiple shows. So my original intention was just to go overseas and that would be it. But then I went to London, came back, and told myself, I’m going to the American run, too. So I went to Philly, both New Jersey shows, all three of the LA shows, and the Houston Day 2 show–which I booked a flight for and bought the ticket the day of.
How do you fund an ambitious project like that?
That’s the question everyone has. I wish I could answer it. But I don’t know how to explain what I do for a living. I just had the money available to me… so I did it.
In a ballpark range would you say all of that cost, say, $10,000?
[Laughs] Nooooo. It was more than that! Because I bought tickets for other people. I didn’t attend the shows by myself. Out of the 9 shows, I bought 16 tickets. If I am not including other people’s tickets, then it would probably be closer to the 10K-15K range. But including that, travel, and lodging, I would say it was more like, um, $25-30,000.
What did the Renaissance World Tour mean to you personally? Experiencing that sort of ode to Black queerness once was impactful for so many. I can only imagine how it felt going 9 times — and then getting Beyoncé’s attention.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, there were a lot of protests and grassroots organizations that came about. I found myself spending a lot of time with Black individuals and Black queer individuals -- it was a space of mutual aid and stuff like that. So I’ve seen that on a smaller scale. But to see that kind of support and connection on a worldwide tour was completely different.
Okay, so where did you get your now famous alien mask?
When I was going to London, probably two weeks before, I said to myself, You know what would be funny? She goes out on stage, looks out into the crowd, and sees an alien. I started looking up alien masks. But I wanted it to look realistic. So I found a company that handmade them. But they didn’t have any in stock. They take four to six weeks to make. They couldn’t make it in time. So I went to London, went to the shows, then I got back to America and said, I didn’t get to do the alien thing there but the Philadelphia show is in a month so let me order it now and showcase it there.
Well, you also wore outfits that referenced ones Beyoncé wore on stage or in other parts of the Renaissance promo campaign. Tell me about building out those looks.
When I dressed as an alien the first time, I wore a yellow and black outfit, which was a nod to her [Mugler] “America Has A Problem” bee outfit in the show. Because I didn’t want to just be an alien at the concert. I wanted it to be obvious that the alien was a Beyonce fan. I basically put the outfits together myself. But I can’t sew and stitch. So I just outsourced certain things. I would purchase some high-end things, then purchase something else from Amazon and pair them together. That first outfit was originally a Mugler meshsuit. If I put it on without the yellow morph suit underneath I would’ve been ass-out naked. Another look, I wore boots I already actually had that looked like the ones she wore for “Crazy In Love.” So Beyoncé was looking at my style [Laughs]. That look was some metallic Zara pants paired with a corset I got from the Dion Lee sample sale. A lot of the looks were like that, taking something high and low and putting them together.
Were you able to see the show well in the mask?
Yes, mainly because I was on the floor. I could see anything directly in front of me. But anything peripheral I could not see. So I always positioned myself on the floor so that I could see the entire stage just by looking straight.
What was attending the premiere like? From what I can tell, it seemed like you were the only fan amongst a sea of buzzy names. That had to feel special.
The premiere was awesome. I had to go to security without the head on-- so people knew who I was. But once I went through the first checkpoint, I asked if I could put it on, they were like, no we’ve been waiting for you, we’ve been expecting you. They ushered me to the actual red carpet. I wasn’t expecting that. They took photos and videos of me.
I really wanted to wear Schiparelli. That’s what I envisioned. But the theme was “cozy opulence.” I just didn’t understand it—it was like an oxymoron to me. They ended up changing the theme, last minute, to just cocktail attire, but I had already gotten my outfit by then. So I got this very Old Hollywood glam robe from Amazon. I said that was the cozy part of it. And I had a bodysuit on from Alice + Olivia. And I had ten-inch pleaser heels. It was a very last minute thing thrown together.
I’m so happy I got to go. I didn’t really like where it left off for me, personally. The last appearance being Houston and not going to the last stop in Kansas City. It just felt anti-climatic. But because I got to go to the premiere and walk the red carpet, it felt like a nice bow to everything.
Does the alien have a backstory?
No, I just let the people go with it. I was going to pretend I was Lil Nas X underneath the mask—but I didn’t go with that ultimately. Some people thought I was Billy Porter or Solange Knowles. Some people said I was a white man. I just allowed people to speculate. Some people referred to me as Alien Superstar Knowles. But I’m just an alien.