Beyonce’s Band Leader: What It Takes to Be a Pro

The Digital Music News Podcast

"There are no rules for success," says Bibi McGill, leader of Beyonce’s band, Suga Mama. But these principles just might change your musical career.

This is the person that Beyonce trusts to manage, direct, and coordinate her backing band on tour. The band is called Suga Mama, and it’s part of a massive roadshow that plays the biggest arenas in front of tens of thousands of people every night.

But that’s just one gig for Bibi McGill. And it all started with a phone call to play guitar for Pink back in the early 2000s. She had to write the guitar parts for multiple songs on a plane ride to New York — in coach class.

Then she went straight to the studio from the airport and crushed it. These days, she’s focusing on her professional yoga career. In fact, we caught up with her right after an intensive yoga session at Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona, CA. We asked Bibi how she became one of the top guitarists in the world today, not to mention a professional yogi and Beyonce’s collaborator.

Here’s what she told us.