Tracking Jay Z and Beyonce' Performance 'On The Run' Tour

Beyonce and JAY Z perform on the opening night of the On The Run Tour at Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Miami, Florida.

The marriage of Jay Z and Beyonce is a mighty union. Perhaps as much as either star's considerable appeal as a performer, the idea of somehow seeing it in action is driving what's on track to be this summer's most successful tour, with an estimated nightly ticket gross of $5.2 million per date. The couple routinely posts photos that display what looks like familial bliss, and on her "visual album" of December 2013, Beyonce set ears ablaze with very adult lyrics describing an equally satisfying marital bed. So it's surprising that as the Knowles-Carters traverse the country on their joint run, rumors of turbulence and even potential divorce have been chasing them.

Well, maybe not so surprising: haters tend to rush in when celebrities look happy. And during the "On the Run" tour, the hints of unease have been matched with as much evidence displaying that all could indeed be well. Confusing? Yes. Let's track the data.

The tour's opening night in Miami on June 25 drew breathlessly positive reviews, which nearly all mentioned the interplay between the two stars as a demonstration of a working marriage. "Erotica, glamour, swagger, street cred and finally, a peek at marriage and family bliss all came together," reported Billboard. USA Today called it "the absolute best way that two of the world's best performers can deliver a show that proves why they're on top together." Discussing the onstage love demo, MTV News concluded, "If Jay Z and Beyonce seem eager to explain why it all makes sense in this exhaustive spectacular, it's probably because they know they've got something better than good."

So where did things appear to go awry? Well, on the very second date of the tour, (June 28) Beyonce changed a line in her song "Resentment," which is sung from the perspective of a cheated-on lover. The original lyrics are "been riding with you for six years."  At Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark, dressed in a wedding gown, she sang "been riding with you for 12 years."

The New York Daily News did the math: when the song was released in 2006, Beyonce had been dating Jay Z for four years. (Cheating song = not about him.) But as of 2014, the couple has been together for 12. (Cheating song = maybe about him!)

A scientific look at the ups and downs of the Carter-Knowles marriage. 

Tongues wagged, and bloggers blogged: was Beyonce implying Jay Z had cheated? Was it infidelity that spurred the infamous elevator scrap between Jay and sister-in-law Solange, back in May? On July 2, the celebrity gossip magazine In Touch created a helpful online photo gallery, featuring six possible contenders for the role of Jay Z's alleged secret side chick.

The tour continued apace. The Providence Journal reported that on July 1, in Massachusetts, "on-stage chemistry between the two was lacking at times." On July 5, in Philadelphia, the Inquirer noted that Beyonce again changed the lyrics to "Resentment," adding the line, "she ain't even half of me/ that b- will never be me." The reviewer concluded, though overall he'd seen a "highly entertaining, excitingly staged knockout of a show", that "for all the marketing mileage that the couple get out of their branded image as a grown up musical and marital alliance in an erotically charged relationship - "Drunk In Love" as they put it, in the recent hit that fizzled Saturday - there were few moments of human interaction between the stars themselves or with their adoring audience."

At the tour's Baltimore date two days later, though, the Washington Post's critic felt some sizzle as Beyonce sang "Drunk In Love" and "her husband planted a kiss on her neck. It was an all-you-need-is-love moment from the couple who has it all," he wrote.

Reporters covering the subsequent three dates, in Toronto, New Jersey andAtlanta, praised the show's dazzling spectacle – costume changes, video montages, a 42-song setlist - and did not parse the performance overly for clues as to the state of the stars' offstage connubial happiness.

On July 14, eight dates in, HollywoodLife.com reported that Bey and Jay were doing couples' therapy via Skype while on tour, using a source that suggested it was a good thing. ("They have had their issues and continue to have their issues, but they are good," the unnamed source said. "They take their relationship very seriously and realize how important it is to their love, their family and their brand.") On the 15th, TMZ reported, Beyonce posted a set of photos to her website showing the small family – Jay Z, Beyonce and two-and-a-half-year-old Blue Ivy – enjoying downtime during the tour.

But on July 16, In Touch cited a report (from another unnamed source) that "She's heard all the rumors about Jay fooling around, and she can't take it anymore. The romance is over." The same day, though, Mrs. Carter Instagrammed a photo of her hand entwined with her husband's onstage, with the text "On the Run is an epic show because Beyonce and Jay Z really have no equals. As individuals, they're impressive. But together, they're unstoppable."

Sometimes rumors are just rumors. And sometimes, Rumours is a classic, chart-topping, multi-platinum album chronicling the painful disintegration of trust that leads to the breakup of multiple marriages. You get where I'm going with that.

What do we do with so much conflicting information? Do you think Jay Z and Beyonce are on the rocks, or still rolling smooth? Is your love relationship also important to your brand?

Jay Z and Beyonce's "On the Run" tour comes to the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, July 20. Tickets are still available.