MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
And speaking of Beyonce, Sweden's inflation rate came in higher than expected for May. And some experts suspect none other than Queen B is to blame.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRAZY IN LOVE")
BEYONCE: (Singing) Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, oh, no, no.
KELLY: When the pop superstar kicked off her Renaissance World Tour in Sweden last month, fans from all over the world flocked to Stockholm for the two sold-out shows.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BEYONCE: I see a million faces, people that flew from very, very far to come see the first show tonight.
KELLY: Tickets to the Renaissance Tour that were going for up to $2,000 here in the U.S. were around $200 for similar seats in Stockholm. So as fans flew to Sweden to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate, prices also rose for hotels and restaurants, leading to the so-called Beyonce blip. One Swedish economist tweeted his thoughts, theorizing that 0.2 percentage points of May's 9.7% inflation rate could be attributed to the Beyhive (ph) traveling to Sweden for the concert.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FORMATION")
BEYONCE: (Rapping) You know you that b**** when you cause all this conversation.
KELLY: The effect is expected to be temporary, but, newsflash, Bruce Springsteen will also tour in Sweden soon. We'll have to wait and see if the boss can swing spending on par with Queen B.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALIEN SUPERSTAR")
BEYONCE: (Singing) I'm too classy for this world. Forever I'm that girl. Feed you diamonds and pearls, oh, baby. I'm too classy to be touched. I pay them all in dust. I'm stingy with my love, oh, baby. I'm U-N-I-Q-U-E. Oh, I'm stingy with my love, oh, baby. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
