If I Were A Boy - Live Performances

Live Performances

Knowles first performed "If I Were a Boy" on November 6, 2008, at the MTV Europe Music Awards, which was followed by another performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show on November 13, 2008. On November 16, 2008, backed by a live band, Knowles sang a medley of "If I Were a Boy", then switched to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", and concluded with "Crazy in Love" during the final episode of Total Request Live. She also performed the ballad on December 13, 2008, live at the The X Factor finale in the UK. Knowles sang a medley of "If I Were a Boy" and Alanis Morissette's 1995 song "You Oughta Know" on January 31, 2010, at the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony. She wore a "futuristic, spiked black" outfit with matching shoes, and "pranced, spun and did the Dutty Wine while the crowd cheered in approval", according to Jayson Rodriguez of MTV News. Ben Sisario of The New York Times commented that Knowles "was elaborately staged and typically athletic" during the performance. Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine put the performance at number three on her list of "Beyoncé's 5 Biggest TV Performances". Knowles interpolated a verse from "You Oughta Know" into her performance of "If I Were a Boy" at the Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2011.

In addition to her performances of the song on television and at award ceremonies, "If I Were a Boy" was a part of Knowles' set list on her I Am... Tour (2009–10), and was included on her live album, I Am... World Tour as the 29th track. Jayson Rodriguez of MTV News, commented that Knowles donned "aviator shades and a bulletproof-looking one-piece" for the performances of the song on her tour. Alice Jones of The Independent wrote, "Beyoncé dons Ray Bans and a leather breastplate to whip up a quasi-feminist singalong." Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone noted that Knowles channeled her "ferocious onstage persona", Sasha Fierce. In May 2012, Knowles performed "If I Were a Boy" during her Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live revue at Revel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Before Knowles started to sing, she noted that " how it feels to be hurt and lied to". During the performance, she mashed Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" (1998) and reworked the rhythm of "If I Were a Boy" to fit with the cover. Elysa Gardner of USA Today noted that the ballad "became a jangly guitar-pop number" during the show. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "the most attention-grabbing moments of the night... came when she dipped into other artists' catalogs".