Beyoncé
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Beyoncé has given the world innumerable gifts: the lyric “tell MCI to cut the phone poles,” the Bob Fosse–inspired “Single Ladies” dance, the infamous Met Gala elevator drama, decadent pregnancy announcements, this GIF, Coachella. Which Beyoncé souvenir am I most grateful for? I choose what now feels like an anomaly in her rarefied, holier-than-holy pop career: Foxxy Cleopatra, a.k.a. “a whole lotta woman.”

Austin Powers in Goldmember, the third installment in a franchise that launched to modest success and ballooned to an abiding cultural phenomenon, turns 20 this summer. Destiny’s Child would release one final album in 2004, but Goldmember — the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 2002 — marks Beyoncé’s transition from girl-group captain to singular superstar. It’s when Beyoncé Knowles became simply Beyoncé, even if it feels nothing like the Beyoncé we know today. With the movie came her first solo single (the underrated funk jam “Work It Out“) and a bridge to the image-defining smash “Crazy in Love,” generally considered her true breakthrough.

At the time, Beyoncé was anxious to prove herself as an actress. (Crossover fame remained very important in the early 2000s. Just ask Mariah Carey.) Her only credit was Carmen: A Hip Hopera, MTV’s contemporary spin on the classic French opera. That’s where Goldmember producer John Lyons got the idea to enlist her to play Foxxy, a stylish FBI agent who used to shag Austin (Mike Myers) and moonlights as a nightclub singer at Studio 69. As Beyoncé recounted in 2002, she auditioned twice. “I read with Mike and just tried to be the straight guy. When I left, I was convinced I wasn’t going to get it,” she told Newsweek. For her callback, she “went back in wearing a Pam Grier–like catsuit, an Afro wig, and had memorized every blaxploitation film ever made.” Her fate was sealed.

Amazon Italia reported that Renaissance will be the first part of a trilogy. Read the album description from the website below:

"Six years after ‘Lemonade’, finally arrives the new album of unreleased songs by BEYONCE ‘, out on Friday 29th July. Composed of 16 new tracks, it is titled ‘Renaissance Act I’ and will be the first disc of a celebratory trilogy of black music and culture with many samples of past hits. The new songs will be uptempo with a strong dance, house and even techno orientation. Among the producers of ‘Renaissance Act I’, in addition to BEYONCE itself ‘appear, among others, Ryan Tedder and Raphael Saadiq. , is a proof of this. Entitled ‘Break My Soul’, it is already at # 22 in the ranking of the most played singles by Italian radios and is preparing to become one of this summer’s hits. In Italy ‘Renaissance Act 1’ will only be available on softpack CD with 24 page booklet."

Beyoncé bounces to her first leader on Billboard‘s multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated July 9) with “Break My Soul” (4-1). The track soars following its first full tracking week June 24-30 (after its arrival on Tidal at 9 p.m. ET June 20 and its wide release at midnight June 21).

“Break” reigns with 23 million all-format radio airplay audience impressions June 24-30 (up from 10.7 million June 20-23), 15.6 million U.S. streams (up from 14 million) and 11,000 sold, according to Luminate. It also bounds to No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs, likewise becoming Beyoncé’s inaugural leader, and spends a second week at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart (after it launched with 22,000 sold in its first three-plus days).

The song bursts 15-7 on the Hot 100, soars 17-8 on Streaming Songs and enters Radio Songs at No. 28, while falling to No. 4 on Digital Song Sales after it opened at No. 1.

Beyoncé banks her landmark 20th solo Hot 100 top 10 and first since Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” on which she’s featured, became her seventh No. 1 in May 2020. Beyoncé notches her first top 10 in a lead role since “Formation” debuted and peaked at No. 10 in May 2016.

Beyoncé’s new single “Break My Soul” debuts at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of June 27, after just three days of tracking.

It marks Beyoncé’s sixth-highest debut on this chart as a solo artist and seventh overall, followed by “Walk On Water” with Eminem. That collaboration, taken from his Revival album, opened at No. 14 in December 2017.

“Break My Soul,” co-produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, also debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Sales chart. It’s her fifth song to debut atop this list, followed by 2020’s “Black Parade.”

Additionally, “Break My Soul” made chart splashes on the Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales (No. 1), Hot R&B Songs (No. 4), R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (No. 10), and Adult R&B Airplay (No. 17), to name a few.

Beyonce shared the album cover for "Renaissance". She wrote:

"Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are."

UPDATE: The album is now available for pre-order on Shop Beyonce as digital download and CD.

Renaissance Limited Edition Vinyl is available now for pre-order on shop.beyonce.com.

Big Freedia was interviewed about being featured on "Break My Soul" and the sound of "Renaissance".

Official lyric video for "BREAK MY SOUL" by Beyoncé is available now!

Beyonce will drop “Break My Soul,” the first single from her forthcoming seventh solo studio album “Renaissance,” tonight at midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT, the singer announced on social media Monday morning. Unusually, the announcement was not made via a tweet or Instagram post but rather on her profile on each platform.

While some had expected the singer to drop a new song over the weekend or even on Juneteenth — which took place on Sunday and is officially observed as a holiday today — as she did two years ago with her last major single, “Black Parade,” the timing of this one may reflect a song that has no relation to the holiday.

Beyonce announced early Thursday that the long-expected album will be arriving on July 29. Sources tell Variety that the album will feature both dance and country-leaning tracks, the source says, with contributions from hit songwriter Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote her 2008 hit “Halo” as well as hits for Adele, Taylor Swift, the Jonas Bros. and his own group, OneRepublic. Also said to be involved is Raphael Saadiq, who has crafted hits for Mary J. Blige, D’Angelo, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Andra Day as well as his own excellent solo albums, and executive-produced “A Seat at the Table,” Beyoncé’s sister Solange’s widely praised 2016 album.

It was unclear whether the country songs will appear as a separate album, or as part of the first edition of “Renaissance.” Country is not new terrain for the singer: “Daddy Lessons,” from 2016’s “Lemonade,” is heavy on twang and was even covered by the Chicks (then known as the Dixie Chicks).

UPDATE: Pre-order of the song is available now on shop.beyonce.com!

Beyonce’s new album Renaissance promises to be ‘dramatic’ with the singer using the pandemic and her marriage as inspiration, Metro.co.uk can exclusively reveal.

The Beyhive woke up to twerk-worthy news on Thursday with Beyonce finally confirming the arrival of her new music.

Renaissance, her seventh studio album, will be a two-part project with Act I set for release on July 29 and available on various streaming services, with Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal among those promoting the news on their platforms.

It’s set to become Beyonce’s first album in six years following the release of the Grammy-nominated visual album Lemonade in 2016, and is expected to precede a set of pop-up shows across the UK this summer.

In an interview last year, the 40-year-old singer explained how she used the Covid lockdowns as an excuse to hone in on writing the album, and now an insider has revealed exactly what we can expect from the new era of Beyonce.

A source told us: ‘She played some of the new records for some friends and the consensus is that it’s her happiest body of work to date.

‘It’s a natural continuation from her last two records because she wrote them out of her desire to find peace in the world and in her marriage. She is in a place where she feels like that is possible, and wrote songs which reflect where she is with her faith as a Christian.’

New Beyoncé songs were recently registered on ASCAP!

A Sunday evening in Los Angeles; a drive into a discreet set of gates for a candid dinner with Beyoncé.

Two days before I find myself here, at Beyoncé’s home, we had convened in West Hollywood with photographer Rafael Pavarotti to make a fashion story. New music is coming – a thrilling abundance of it, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. In what might be her most ambitious musical project to date, the culture-shifting, Grammy-dominating Queen Bee of all she surveys has trained her considerable artillery on America’s musical soundscape of the late 20th century. Do I need to add there is also a little mystery at play?

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, a writer of excellent and lengthy texts, had taken to messaging me as we brainstormed the direction of her Vogue shoot together. A fashion fantasia spun from the tropes of club life during the last century’s final quarter. Mirror balls, light boxes, headdresses? Of course. A horse on the dance floor? Certainly. A motorcycle for her to adorn in Junya Watanabe leathers and Harris Reed & Roker boots? Why not. B wanted to play with fashion like never before, and as we swapped references (from the 1990s garage scene to ’80s excess), talked hair and beauty, and got to know her team, a vision of glittering retro-futurism began to take shape.

Beyoncé has revealed the title and release date for her follow-up to 2016’s Lemonade, with the celebrated artist set to drop Renaissance on July 29. The title for the 16-song project also includes “act i,” which presumably references plans to share more “acts” after this initial release.

4 box sets are available to pre-order on shop.beyonce.com (1, 2, 3, 4) and include a CD, T-shirt, a 28-page photo booklet, and a mini poster. The product “begins shipping July 29th upon album release.”

Just two days after Beyoncé erased all of her social-media profile pictures, fans are already anticipating a new album from the Lemonade singer. Fans spotted on Beyoncé’s website that placeholder album art comes up if you type in June 11. The black image with Beyoncé’s name is captioned “Image, B7,” making the BeyHive believe that her seventh album is coming soon. The image also appears if you search “June 10.” If announced, the rumored album would be her latest since Lemonade in 2016. Her mother, Tina Knowles, reportedly liked a post alluding to the rumors of an upcoming project. Beyoncé recently posted a few photos of herself on the ’gram just last week, after not posting since March.

Beyoncé has scored another awards show feat!

The music icon, 40, received her first Daytime Emmy nomination for writing the "Talks with Mama Tina Theme Song" for her mother Tina Knowles-Lawson's Facebook Watch series, Talks with Mama Tina.

Outstanding Original Song
Grateful For It All - The Young and the Restless, CBS
Next To You - The Young and the Restless, CBS
Talks With Mama Tina Theme Song - Talks With Mama Tina, Facebook Watch

The Daytime Emmy Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Friday, June 24, at 9 p.m. EST.

Fivio Foreign’s long-awaited debut album, B.I.B.L.E., has arrived and it boasts an array of guest appearances, as well as some high-profile samples, like one from Destiny’s Child.

But that sample, from the group’s song “Say My Name,” gave the Brooklyn rapper a bit of trouble. In a new interview on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning, Fivio described the difficulties behind getting the sample cleared—and that for Beyoncé, it was a matter of the lyrical content.

“Shoutout Destiny’s Child, appreciate that, they cleared that joint,” Fivio said around the six-minute mark of the interview. His song, “What’s His Name,” also features Coi Leray and Queen Naija. Fivio added that upon hearing the song, Bey had a few notes. “She heard it. It was a little vulgar, a little bit for her, at first. I cleaned it up, I cleaned it up, I cleaned it up a lot. It was like, ‘You can’t be talking about girls like that!”

Fivio then thanked music-publishing executive John Platt for his assistance in clearing the sample. “Afterward, Big John and them explained to me, it’s a bigger record now and it made sense. One day they called me and they was like, ‘Yo, Big John wanna talk to you,’ and I’m like damn, the album drops in a week. I’m thinking straight bad news, I ain’t gonna lie, cause I had to go back. It was like, ‘Alright, you cleaned your part up, clean these other words up.’ Then it was like, ‘Clean Coi’s part up a little bit,’ and I’m like ‘Damn, so it’s over?’ So he called me, it was ringing, I answered the phone, and I’m like, ‘Hello?’ and he’s like, ‘You’re welcome.’ I’m like, ‘What? Is it cleared?’ He’s like, ‘You’re welcome.’”

Listen to the interview and the song below.

As Deadline broke Monday, Beyoncé has now been officially confirmed to sing in one of the slots of Best Original Song contenders on the 94th Oscars on Sunday. As noted in the Deadline article, speculation is her performance of the nominated song (co-written with Dixson) called “Be Alive” from King Richard will take place via satellite from a Compton tennis court. That aspect, however, was not in the Academy’s long-awaited announcement today of plans for the Best Song presentations on the ABC Oscarcast.

The 94th Oscars are Sunday at the Dolby Theatre and will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

Beyoncé is headed to the Oscars!

The superstar, 40, was nominated for Best Original Song at the 94th annual Academy Awards Tuesday morning, recognizing her song "Be Alive" for King Richard, which she collaborated on with Dixson. This marks Beyoncé's first Oscar nomination.

Music (Original Song)
Beyoncé - Be Alive (King Richard)
Sebastián Yatra - Dos Oruguitas (Encanto)
Van Morrison - Down to Joy (Belfast)
Billie Eilish - No Time to Die (No Time to Die)
Reba McEntire - Somehow You Do (Four Good Days)

The 94th annual Academy Awards will be held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 27.

The UMA’s which celebrates its 18th anniversary on the 14th of February 2022 London, UK released its shortlist of nominees last week.

Beyonce’s focus on Africa for her most recent music pays off as she is up for Best Female Act, and her collaboration with Shatta Wale & Major Lazer ‘Already’ is up for Best Single.

The Urban Music Awards is the biggest celebration of Hip-hop, R&B, Soul, Reggae, EDM, Gospel, Afrobeat, and EDM music in the world. Launched 18 years ago, the award show now has annual versions in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Europe. This year over 4.3 million music fans were nominated from all UMA territories and public voting is now live via the official UMA website.

Best Female Act
Esperanza Spalding “Formwela 4”
Stefflon Don “Murda” (freestyle Badness)
Dua Lipa “Levitating”
Koffee “Switch it Up”
Jaz Karis “Mistake”
Beyonce “Already”
Shaybo “Mud”
Dawn Richard “Bussifame”
Bellah “Evil Eye”
Lianne La Havas “Lianne La Havas”

The nominations for the 53rd NAACP Image Awards are here, with Beyoncé up for two nods. Voting is now open to the public at NAACPImageAwards.net. Winners will be announced during the televised ceremony, hosted by actor/comedian Anthony Anderson, which airs at 8 p.m. ET on February 26 on BET.

Outstanding Female Artist
H.E.R.
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Chlöe
Jazmine Sullivan

Outstanding Soul/R&B Song
H.E.R. — “Damage”
Beyoncé — “Be Alive”
Chlöe — “Have Mercy”
Silk Sonic — “Leave The Door Open”
Jazmine Sullivan — “Pick Up Your Feelings”