Kelly Rowland has heaped praise on her "genius" best friend Beyonce for giving her the traditional black college homecoming experience by including her in 2018's historic Coachella performance.
The Formation icon became the first black female artist to headline the Indio, California music festival last year, when she delivered an energetic hits-packed set, complete with surprise appearances by her rapper husband JAY-Z, sister Solange, and a highly-anticipated Destiny's Child reunion.
Beyonce called the huge gig Homecoming, as it was built around themes traditionally featured in the annual reunion celebrations held at America's historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs), and a documentary of the same name premiered on Netflix on Wednesday (17Apr19), taking fans behind the scenes of the high-profile show.
"I'm creating my own homecoming...," the superstar explains in the film, admitting she always dreamed of going to an HBCU, but ended up pursuing a career in music from a young age. "My college was Destiny's Child. My college was traveling around the world and life was my teacher."
Now Kelly, who was also one of the original members of the legendary girl group, is reflecting on their festival appearance and thanking her childhood friend for the memories.
"I never went to college, because I was touring," she writes on Instagram, alongside a video clip of herself, Beyonce, and Michelle Williams on the Coachella stage. "Had I gone, it would have MOST DEFINITELY BEEN AN HBCU!"
She goes on encourage black high school students to enroll at an HBCU, because every graduate she knows continually "brags about the experience".
"I soak up every story and pretend I was there," she confesses. "I didn't have to pretend in rehearsals, I had a glimpse of the feeling. Thank you sis, for an experience I WILL NEVER FORGET! I love you, genius!"
