Beyonce Before She Was Famous: the Woody Station Wagon

By Justin Steffman

Apr 24, 2018

Before Beyonce became a superstar, my friends and I had some unique collecting experiences while going for her.

Back in 1999, when the original line-up of Destiny's Child was opening for TLC on a North American tour, we went over to our local venue and waited by the stage exit garage for autographs. About an hour before the show ended, we noticed the girls of Destiny's Child packed into a woody station wagon taxi, exiting the venue. The car was all dented up down the side wood panels, and they had tons of luggage stacked up and strapped down across the entire roof. Like something out of a movie!

Their car exited the venue too quickly for us to get their attention, so we did what any crazy collector would do, we ran after it!

It must have been 0 degrees out. The streets were covered in snow and ice, and the 3 of us ran for 20 blocks from the venue to a local Crowne Plaza hotel, trying not to bust our asses along the way. I remember seeing their ridiculous car in the distance, repeatedly getting caught at red lights which would always turn green just before we could catch up to them on foot.

Our run ended with us arriving to the hotel just in time to see Destiny's Child exiting their station wagon and paying the driver. We introduced ourselves as fans, and they responded with huge enthusiasm by giving us all hugs. The 3 of us all had bright red faces from running in the freezing wind, and it must have been obvious that we were nuts.

Nevertheless, they asked us a ton of questions and seemed really happy just to meet people who introduced themselves as fans. (At the time, "Bills, Bills, Bills" was their only song on the radio.)

Long story short, we helped them take down their luggage and carried it all into the hotel for them. They signed everything we had, and Beyonce added "Destiny's Child" below her name on every item. At the time, I thought her name was pronounced "Bee-on-kah" so that's what I kept calling her. (What an idiot!)

By the next time Destiny's Child came touring through our state again, they were already hugely famous. Our second time seeing them really put this into perspective: they arrived in a white stretch limo to a crowd of hundreds of fans screaming around their car and pounding on the windows.

In the middle of that chaos, they spotted one of my friends (who was with us during the first time meeting them), and the next thing I know the limo door was open and they pulled him by the arm right into the limo. Lucky bastard! Right back stage he went.

I spent the next 15 years meeting Beyonce on countless (and often random) occasions, both as an autograph seeker and as a photographer, all while watching her rise to take over the music world. And there wasn't a single time when I went for her that I didn't think back to the woody station wagon.

Sitting behind her three brand new Cadillac Escalades in traffic with a full security team? I'm thinking about the woody station wagon. Seeing her arrive to an event with people screaming her name and crying? I'm thinking about the woody station wagon. The Superbowl? The woody station wagon. Every time someone posts her autograph on RACC... the woody station wagon!

Comment below to share your stories about meeting stars before they were famous!

Justin Steffman

Founder, @autographcoa @officialracc

I started collecting autographs in-person regularly back in 1996, and I still make time to go out graphing if someone is around who interests me. I spend 90% of my time in my office and online, authenticating hundreds of autograph submissions per day for AutographCOA (ACOA), and I also help to oversee the RACC community.

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