Beyonce has officially confirmed the first details about her upcoming 7th studio album. On June 16, the singer’s website changed to emblazon information about the new record: It’s called Renaissance, and it’s just “act I” of this new chapter. Bey’s Instagram bio included some more details, as well: The album will be released on July 29. Immediately after the announcement was made, Beyonce began trending on Twitter, with fans going wild over what to expect. The countdown is officially on!
In addition to sharing the album’s name and release date, Beyonce also started selling merch from her new Renaissance era. There are four different box sets that fans can buy to celebrate the new record. The announcement of Renaissance comes less than one week after fans began speculating that new music was on the way after Bey deleted her profile pictures on her social media accounts. She has yet to update the images, so we’ll have to wait and see what her look for this era entails.
Interestingly, Beyonce dropped an Easter egg for the album during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar nearly a full year ago. When asked about new music during the Aug. 2021 interview, she said, “With all the isolation and injustice over the past year, I think we are all ready to escape, travel, love and laugh again. I feel a renaissance emerging and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible.”
At the time, Bey confirmed that she had already been in the studio for a year and a half working on her sound. “There’s nothing like the amount of love, passion and healing that I feel in the recording studio,” she admitted. “After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old. Yes, the music is coming!” Now, she’s finally delivered with the actual announcement!
Even though Beyonce hasn’t dropped a studio album since Lemonade in 2016, she hasn’t stepped away from the music scene completely. She teamed up with Megan Thee Stallion for a remix of “Savage,” which earned her some Grammys, and also recorded songs for The Lion King and King Richard soundtracks. Plus, her 2020 charity single, Black Parade, released amidst the Black Lives Matter movement, also took home an award at the 2021 Grammys.