- March 14, 2016

SXSW Adds Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Sophia Bush, and Others to Michelle Obama Keynote. Could Beyonce be Next?

First Lady Michelle Obama is basically turning her SXSW keynote stage into a live version of Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” video, as the festival just announced in a press release that she will be joined onstage by Missy Elliott, Diane Warren, and Sophia Bush, and will be moderated by Queen Latifah. Basically, all that’s missing is Beyonce, herself.

Then again, if ever there is a place for surprise guest, it’s a SXSW stage, especially since the opening number will be sung by Halle and Chloe Bailey who are signed to Beyonce’s management company, Parkwood Entertainment. Plus, she’s got a big tour kicking off, soon. A little extra promo never hurt.

From the release:

This powerhouse group of women bring their collective years of experience to the table for a dialogue on finding one’s passion, music, and the importance of girls’ education everywhere. The First Lady will also be highlighting the Obama Administration’s Let Girls Learn initiative, which aims to break barriers for the 62 million girls around the world who are not in school today, more than half of whom are adolescent.

AOL Makers will co-present the event on Wednesday, March 16 at 11am in Ballroom D of the Austin Convention Center. It will also be live streamed on the SXSW site, which you can watch directly from Austin.com.