This Is Why You Will Never Hear A Beyoncé Song On Pretty Little Liars

Both Pretty Little Liars and Beyoncé empower women — yet you'll never hear Queen Bey's music on PLL. The reason? According to Vulture's new interview with PLL showrunner I. Marlene King, the only reason you won't hear "Hold Up" (or any other brilliant Bey track) has to do with funds.

In her new interview, King revealed that she specifically used music that was "female-driven and female-centric." The Freeform series included songs by artists like Christina Perri and, dating back to the show's season 2 Halloween episode "The First Secret," Lady Gaga. (In that episode, Alison, who is dressed like the Mother Monster herself at Noel's Halloween party, declares her squad hit the dance floor to the tune of "Just Dance.")

However, while Beyoncé may be the definition of "female-centric" music, she's one artist whom King can't say was a part of the PLL soundtrack — though that doesn't mean the "Formation" singer can't be mentioned on the series in other ways.

King told Vulture:

"[We had empowered] female music in every sense of the word. We referenced Beyoncé on the show. We haven’t been able to afford her music, but we’ll definitely reference her."

What some fans may not know is that Pretty Little Liars already has one seriously strong Beyoncé connection. Bianca Lawson, who portrayed Emily's (Shay Mitchell) very first girlfriend Maya (may she rest in peace), is actually the step-sister of the Lemonade mogul. Lawson's father, Richard Lawson, wed Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles in 2015. Though Maya was murdered at the end of season 2 of the series, some fans are convinced that she's still secretly alive — and possibly even Uber A.

While Bey won't appear on the series, the show did luck out with finding its theme song. King told Vulture that Ashley Benson, who portrays Hanna, was the one who found "Secret" by The Pierces. The showrunner told the site:

"['Secret'] really did influence so much of what the show is, including the opening credits. We take quotes from that song and put them into dialogue. Whenever we can circle back to ‘Secret,’ we do. I feel like it was written for the show, and it wasn’t, which is crazy."

Now, if only Bey would be willing to do a cover of the track for the show's finale — gratis, of course.