NEW YORK • She listened to doctors' advice not to perform at the recent Coachella music festival in California, with Lady Gaga taking over headlining duties.
But Beyonce is still grabbing headlines in another arena - drawing a chorus of support from fans and the media for her public appearances in diva style even as she is reportedly quite close to delivering twins.
Married to Jay-Z, the 35-year-old already has a daughter Blue Ivy, five, with the music star.
When the superstar revealed that she was pregnant in February, she took to Instagram in nothing but a burgundy bra and blue underwear, Hollywood Life reported.
It also noted that she turned a lot of heads at the recent Grammys when she sported a sheer gold gown with sequinned detailing - possibly overshadowing the fact that she picked up two trophies that night.
Beyonce, who has not revealed her due date or the gender of the babies, has certainly not let pregnancy stand in the way of choosing clothes.
She was in a US$22,000 (S$30,653) Gucci silk kimono in February's NBA All-Star Game, teamed with a pair of shredded jeans by Left Hand LA, Gianvito Rossi stiletto heels and a white tee.
Commentators said she looked so hot that it was no wonder that she had to take along a US$450 Gucci fan to calm the proceedings.
"OMG, so cool," Left Hand designer Julie Kucharski, who crafts one-of-a-kind garments, told The New York Post.
"The jeans were originally Topshop and I distressed them for US$200."
But the singer is not alone in showing women what is possible in maternity fashion, even if their budgets are not as voluminous as hers.
Another pregnant celebrity making waves with her fashion choices is Amal Clooney, wife of Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney.
The 39-year-old, who is expecting a boy and a girl next month, has drawn the thumbs up from the fashion police for her elegant allure and statement accessories.
Even in her second trimester, the lawyer still favours tailored ready-to-wear and hard-to-find vintage stuff, such as the 1959 Christian Dior black bouclette dress and jacket that she was spotted in at the United Nations recently.
Another standout choice: the circa 1964 cream-and-black geometric dress and coordinating coat she wore in Paris in February.
And she made photographers snap overtime when she wore a strapless white Atelier Versace gown with a feathered train at the Cesar Awards.
"They're both inspirational," Sasha Charnin Morrison told The New York Post. She is the author of Secrets Of Stylists and style director at CBS's Watch! magazine.
"You're like the Incredible Hulk when you're pregnant with twins, expanding every day.
"They're showing women how to take maternity dressing to a whole new glamorous level. You can look pretty, sexy and feminine."
In doing so, The New York Times notes that Beyonce has created a new paradigm for what it means to be a pregnant woman in the public eye - one in which the very act of conceiving and carrying a child (or two children) becomes de facto proof of the power of femininity.
The message is positive: Pregnant is beautiful. It should be worshipped.
Now another potential role model is in the making: tennis player Serena Williams.
Recently, when she posted a selfie in a yellow swimsuit with the words "20 weeks" on Snapchat, it created enormous excitement, not least because it seemed clear that she had won the Australian Open, her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, in her first trimester.
Now, that is a boost - in more ways than just fashion - for all working mothers.
NYTIMES
