Beyoncé Announces Seventh Album, ‘Renaissance’

After a week of teasing the internet and building anticipation, Beyoncé has revealed her much-anticipated seventh album Renaissance, her first studio LP in six years, will arrive July 29.

The singer officially revealed the news on social media with the words “act i … RENAISSANCE.” No further information has been revealed, although a tweet from fan account Beyoncé Legion suggests Renaissance is a 16-song album. The cover art is not yet released.

Beyoncé’s website confirms the album’s box-set details, which includes a CD, T-shirt, and collectible box. The box will include a 28-page booklet and mini poster.

Beyoncé first hinted at the upcoming arrival of something when she removed the profile pictures from all of her social media accounts, including her seldom-used Twitter account; up until Renaissance’s arrival, Beyoncé hadn’t tweeted or retweeted anything since May 2020.

More breadcrumbs were picked up by eagle-eyed fans who noticed that URLs on Beyoncé’s website for “B7,” the code name for her seventh studio album, were updated with placeholder images.

Renaissance marks Beyoncé’s first full-fledged studio album since 2016’s Lemonade. Since then, the singer teamed with husband Jay-Z for the Carters’ 2018 album Everything Is Love. Beyoncé also contributed music and curated 2019’s The Lion King: The Gift, a soundtrack/companion album to the Disney remake where she provided the voice of Nala. 

“Black Parade,” a Juneteenth 2020 single that later was added to the deluxe edition of The Gift, won Best R&B Performance at the 2021 Grammys; the song was also nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

In 2021, Beyoncé released her the single “Be Alive” for the film King Richard; the track received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song at this year’s Oscars, where Beyoncé also delivered a prerecorded performance of the track.