Michelle Obama & Beyoncé Have A Lot In Common

The First Lady of my heart Michelle Obama was on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Sept. 20, exuding charisma and winning even more hopelessly devoted fans before she exits the White House (sob). When asked by Colbert about what it's like knowing the real Beyoncé, Obama laughed before confirming, yes, they do hang out like actual friends. When Colbert asked what it was like to be Beyoncé's Beyoncé, she said:

You know, she's a sweetheart. She's smart, she's creative, she's a great mother. She loves her family. I mean, she's just a low-key lady. So we have a lot in common that way — but I can't sing, I can't dance... not like Beyoncé.

Can we talk about Beyoncé being called a "low-key lady" first? Clearly, Obama has some very dynamic women in her friendship circle. Beyoncé is my sun and moon, but "low-key" isn't an adjective I'd think to apply to her: everything she does, she does to the max, and everything's an amazing, razzle-dazzle spectacle. Arguably, this is how Beyoncé sets herself apart from the competition: she's not all about chill or minimalism or dialing her art back. But potentially more telling than this was what Obama's statement revealed the two women have in common.

The obvious repetition in the statement above is about Beyoncé's relationship to her family: she's "a great mother. She loves her family." This also reflects much of what the interview time was spent on: discussing Obama's children and husband. For me, one of the most intriguing aspects of both women is that, despite excelling at what they do, despite seeming to juggle the most jam-packed dayplanners in America, they both somehow make time and space for cherishing their families.

This must be really damn hard: they both juggle multiple careers (Beyoncé: music, films, business, merchandise; Michelle Obama: law, politics, philanthropy, writing). But it also makes their friendship seem totally logical: obviously, they're close friends. With equally successful husbands in the public eye, a thriving career, and kids, who else could understand Beyoncé better than Obama or Obama better than Beyoncé? I hope this friendship continues even long after Michelle Obama leaves the White House and goes on to take over the free world with the sheer power of her power, grace, and intelligence.

Images: CBS; The Late Show With Stephen Colbert/YouTube