Those who wondered if or when Migos might perform together again after the tragic death of cofounder Takeoff got their answer on Sunday night, in a total surprise performance by surviving group members Quavo and Offset.
The show returned from a commercial break with a curtain raised on a darkened stage with two shoadwed figures emerging — who turned out to be Quavo and Offset, standing before an image of the Space Shuttle. As a recording of Takeoff’s verse on the song “Hotel Lobby” began (as recorded by his duo with Quavo, Unc & Phew), it became clear who they were and the crowd erupted. “BET!” the announcer shouted. “Doin’ this for Take!” The image of the Space Shuttle took off and was replaced by an image of Takeoff with his hand reaching skyward, and the pair launched into the group’s biggest hit, “Bad & Boujee.”
Quavo and Offset of Migos perform in front of a photo of Takeoff at the BET Awards 2023 held at Microsoft Theater on June 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Christopher Polk for Variety
The pair did not address the crowd, except to shout “Take!”
There was little indication that the reunion would take place Sunday — both were posting photos from Paris just two days ago — or even at any time in the near future. In his Variety cover story last month, Offset became emotional when talking about his friend — who was murdered as an “innocent bystander” in a shooting outside a bowling alley in Houston last November, according to police — and in February, Quavo (who was Takeoff’s uncle, although he was just three years older) seemed to close the door on Migos for good in his Takeoff tribute song “Greatness”: “Don’t ask about the group / He gone, we gone / It can’t come back.”
But immediately after the performance, Offset wrote on Instagram, “Do this shit for the fam cuz this shit bigger than me,” while Quavo wrote “For the Rocket,” Takeoff’s nickname, and then posted photos of the two of them together.
The pair both have new albums on the way, expected this summer. Variety got a preview of several new Offset tracks during the interview for his cover story.
