British Vogue confirmed rumors that Beyoncé will appear on the cover of the publication's May 2013 issue when they published the final art and an excerpt of her interview on its website Tuesday.

The Bow Down singer is wearing a striped belly-baring crop T-shirt and a hi-waist blue sequins skirt from Jonathan Sander's spring 2013 collection on the cover. The Houston native has on minimal makeup for a fresh, bare-faced beauty look with her signature honey blonde curly clocks.

Beyoncé tacked several subjects in her cover story, including her views on feminism, women's equality and the criticism she has received for calling her upcoming tour The Mrs. Carter Show.

Rush Limbaugh openly criticized Beyonce on March 21 for doing what he called a "complete 180" after she released her new single Bow Down/I Been On. He said on The Rush Limbaugh Show the singer's new song reeks of anti-feminism since she tells her female fans to "bow down" to their boyfriends and husbands because that is what she is doing with her "rich guy" Jay-Z. She responded to such accusations by telling the magazine she is a "modern day feminist" and said she believes that it will take some time before she expects women to see real equality.

"But I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality," she told the magazine. "Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I'm just a woman and I love being a woman," she also told the magazine. "I do believe in equality and that we have a way to go and it's something that's pushed aside and something that we have been conditioned to accept."

She also responded to the flak she received for what she called her next series of concerts.

"I feel like Mrs. Carter is who I am, but more bold and more fearless than I've ever been," she confessed. "It comes from knowing my purpose and really meeting myself once I saw my child. I was like, 'OK, this is what you were born to do'. The purpose of my body became completely different."

The May 2013 issue of British Vogue featuring Beyoncé on the cover will arrive on newsstands on April 8.

Tags
Beyonce, Vogue, Jay-Z, The mrs carter show