page_title: I Was Here (song)
section_title: Live performances
hierarchical_section_title: I Was Here (song) / Live performances
caption_attribution_description: English: Beyoncé performing on 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé.
context_page_description: "I Was Here" is a song recorded by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé from her fourth studio album, 4. It was written by Diane Warren, while production was handled by OneRepublic members Ryan Tedder and Brent Kutzle, alongside Kuk Harrell; while Beyoncé is credited on the vocal production. "I Was Here" is a reflective R&B ballad, in which Beyoncé vulnerably reviews her past, wanting to leave an impact on the world before her life comes to an end. Described as a "career song" by Warren, its development was motivated by the September 11 attacks in the United States.
  Following the release of 4, "I Was Here" charted at number 131 on the UK Singles Chart, 74 on the Swiss Singles Chart, and 44 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart in early July 2011. Later, in 2012, the song also appeared on several charts internationally.
  A music video for the song was released on August 19, 2012 and it features Beyoncé performing the song live at the United Nations General Assembly while images of volunteers doing humanitarian work were projected on the screen behind her.
context_section_description: Beyoncé performed "I Was Here" live for the first time on August 14, 2011 during her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé in Roseland Ballroom, New York City. She performed the song in front of 3,500 people wearing a gold dress and backed by her all-female band and her backing singers, called the Mamas. "I Was Here" served as the closing song of the residency show with Beyoncé changing the line, on which the title of the song is based, to "Roseland, we were here." Jason Newman of Rap-Up magazine commented that "in less confident hands, the line would have come off as hokey. For Beyoncé, it was the recognition of a singular event before returning to the stadium." According to Brad Wete from Entertainment Weekly, during the performance of the song Beyoncé "bowed, fanatic screams and cheers followed." Mike Wass of Idolator wrote:
  [Knowles'] ability to bring new depth and texture to quality material is almost as impressive as her uncanny knack for connecting with the audience on an emotional level. Take, for instance, the final song — it was impossible not to be moved by [Knowles] as she fought tears while tackling the clearly personal lyrics of 'I Was Here'.
  Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone, who had given the song a negative review wrote that "on record, ['I Was Here'] was a hollow exercise in self-mythologizing. On Sunday night, though, Beyoncé brought the song to life, singing with a tenacious mix of shmaltz and soul that evoked two of her heroes, Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin [...] It sounded less like bluster than confession. It was almost intimate." Yolanda Sangweni of Essence magazine stated that ending the show with "I Was Here" was "triumphant note" and that "Diana Ross and Michael Jackson would be proud." During the ITV special A Night With Beyoncé which aired on December 4 in the United Kingdom, Beyoncé performed "I Was Here" to a selected crowd of fans. The performance from A Night With Beyoncé was later broadcast on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on December 31, 2011. A writer of Essence magazine noted that she performed a "powerful rendition" of the song further adding that she "looked and sounded glorious". In May 2012, during Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live, a video montage of Beyoncé holding her child Blue Ivy Carter, drinking a pint of Guinness, and going whale-watching was shown while the song was played in the background, before she began singing the first verse of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".
caption: Beyoncé performing during the 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé.
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