WENN

Beyonce has praised Michelle Obama as an outstanding role model and inspiration for her three children.

Michelle was named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world on Wednesday, and Beyonce was picked to pen a short article explaining why the former U.S. First Lady is special.

In her piece the Formation singer expressed her gratitude to Michelle for her courage, honesty, and empathy as a black woman in the public eye who provides a great example to her seven-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, and 22-month-old twins Sir and Rumi.

“I am so grateful that my daughters and my son live in a world where Michelle Obama shines as a beacon of hope who inspires all of us to do better and to be better,” she wrote.

Beyonce, 37, who performed at Michelle’s husband’s President Barack Obama’s inauguration ball in 2009 and at the ceremony itself at the start of his second term in 2013, also detailed a personal friendship that begun on the eve of his presidency.

“When I first met her, I was embraced by a warm, regal, confident woman who possessed a reassuring calm, on the eve of President Obama’s historic first Inauguration,” she recalled.

The Single Ladies hitmaker also emotionally described the importance to her of seeing a strong black woman in The White House, adding: “The way she looked, walked and spoke, in that warm but authoritative tone, we saw our mothers and sisters. She was strong and ambitious and spoke her mind without sacrificing honesty or empathy. That takes a lot of courage and discipline.”

Gushing that she was “honored” to know the 55-year-old, who previously worked as a corporate lawyer, Beyonce went on to hail her charitable work with young people and the success of her memoir Becoming and called her a “portrait of grace” when criticized.

Beyonce also surprised fans by releasing a surprise 40-track live album, Homecoming, on Wednesday, most of which were recorded during her set at last year’s Coachella festival.