‘Icons and Influences’: Chloe x Halle Honor Their Mentor Beyoncé

Chloe x Halle — who are both featured in Rolling Stone‘s March “Women Shaping the Future” issue — honor their mentor Beyoncé and discuss her legacy for our Icons & Influences video series.

The sister duo kicked things off by recalling how they first got into Beyoncé’s music. In 2003, Chloe starred as a younger version of the pop star in The Fighting Temptations. “When I met her, she had the best spirit,” she said. “She was so nice to me and I just remember she always wanted to dance with me and hold me. So because of that, I really loved her. I started falling more in love with her music.”

Halle also described how Destiny’s Child impacted her at such a young age. “The messages were so empowering,” she said. “As women, ‘I’m a survivor,’ it was just so inspiring. It made you want to be yourself and it made you feel confident and free in being a woman.”

Elsewhere in the clip, the duo cited their current favorite Beyoncé songs — “Bigger,” “Kitty Kat” — and discussed when they covered “Best Thing I Never Had” in 2011. They also explained Beyoncé’s role as their mentor and what lessons they’ve learned from her.

“One of the great things I’ve been able to witness as a fan as well as in-person is her grace,” Chloe said. “She’s human, but the way she just blocks out the negativity and never really responds to the B.S. and just lets the art and her talent and work speak for itself — that is really inspiring to my sister and me as young women. Because what we’re doing is not easy and you’re constantly putting yourself out there in your most vulnerable state and you’re open to constant criticism from the entire world. What I appreciate about her is how she chooses to rise above it, stand tall on it. And that’s why she’s Queen B and that’s how she is who she is.”

Watch more videos in the series — including Kacey Musgraves, Brittany Howard, Haim, and Brandi Carlile — on Rolling Stone‘s YouTube page.