The countdown is running.
Beyoncé sent shockwaves through social media overnight when she announced her next album, Renaissance, will be out on July 29.
The long-awaited news was shared in a tweet from music streaming platform Tidal, which Queen Bey’s husband Jay-Z helped put on the map in 2015.
This will be Beyoncé’s seventh studio album as a solo artist. It contains 16 tracks and appears to be a double album as the tweet described “Renaissance” as “Act I”.
Last week, observant fans discovered that the 40-year-old singer’s social media platforms had been deleted after her profile pictures were removed from her YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok pages, suggesting that she was preparing for a new era.
The 28-time Grammy winner teased in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar last year that new music is on the way, saying, “I can feel a renaissance happening,” which was obviously a reference to the album’s title.
“With all the isolation and injustice over the past year, I think we’re all ready to escape, travel, love and laugh again,” she told the magazine at the time.
“I can sense a renaissance on the horizon and I want to help encourage that escape in any way I can.”
This will be Beyoncé’s seventh solo studio album. Getty Images for Global Citizen
Beyoncé spoke briefly about her creative process, saying her albums often take a long time to come to life.
“Still, there’s nothing quite like the amount of love, passion and healing I feel in the recording studio,” she added.
Beyoncé has been open about her creative process, saying it often takes time for her albums to land. Getty Images For Parkwood Entert
“After 31 years it feels just as exciting as it did when I was 9 years old. Yes, the music is coming.”
In the time since the release of her 2016 album Lemonade, the Sorry singer has teamed up with Jay-Z, 52, on their 2018 collaborative album Everything Is Love.
Beyoncé also released an album with husband Jay-Z in 2018. Getty Images for Parkwood Entert
In 2019, she released Homecoming, a concert album that gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at her iconic headlining set, Coachella.
She went on to appear on the soundtrack for Disney’s latest version of The Lion King.
Beyoncé teased last year that she had new music on the way. Getty Images for The Recording A
In 2020, she released another visual album inspired by the film’s plot, titled The Lion King: The Gift.
Beyoncé’s catalog also includes 2003’s “Dangerously in Love,” 2006’s “B’Day,” and her 2013 self-titled album.