Beyoncé (stylized as BEYONCÉ) is the eponymous fifth studio album by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on December 13, 2013 by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. Described by Knowles as a "visual album", Beyoncé consists of fourteen tracks, each having an accompanying short film. Musically, the album explores "post-dubstep tinted future R&B", combining minimalistic production, loose song structure and emotive vocals. Knowles revisits her common theme of self-empowerment, but takes on much darker themes previously unexplored in her music, including "bulimia, post-natal depression, the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood" and frank, often explicit, discussion of sex.
Knowles served as executive producer, co-writer and co-director of the album's seventeen music videos, while significant musical contributions came from Boots, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams. Recording began in 2012 in New York City, and continued under strict secrecy internationally during Knowles' world tour in 2013. In December 2013, it was unexpectedly released to the iTunes Store, with no prior promotion or announcement.
Beyoncé garnered acclaim from critics who commended its experimental production and Knowles' vocal performance. In the US, Beyoncé debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with three-day sales of 617,213 digital copies, giving Knowles her fifth consecutive number-one. It became her highest first-week sales of her solo career, and the best-selling debut week for a female artist in 2013. "XO" was chosen as the lead single for both the U.S. and worldwide; while "Drunk in Love" is being released to urban radio in the US only.Beyoncé (stylized as BEYONCÉ) is the eponymous fifth studio album by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on December 13, 2013 by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. Described by Knowles as a "visual album", Beyoncé consists of fourteen tracks, each having an accompanying short film. Musically, the album explores "post-dubstep tinted future R&B", combining minimalistic production, loose song structure and emotive vocals. Knowles revisits her common theme of self-empowerment, but takes on much darker themes previously unexplored in her music, including "bulimia, post-natal depression, the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood" and frank, often explicit, discussion of sex.
Knowles served as executive producer, co-writer and co-director of the album's seventeen music videos, while significant musical contributions came from Boots, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams. Recording began in 2012 in New York City, and continued under strict secrecy internationally during Knowles' world tour in 2013. In December 2013, it was unexpectedly released to the iTunes Store, with no prior promotion or announcement.
Beyoncé garnered acclaim from critics who commended its experimental production and Knowles' vocal performance. In the US, Beyoncé debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with three-day sales of 617,213 digital copies, giving Knowles her fifth consecutive number-one. It became her highest first-week sales of her solo career, and the best-selling debut week for a female artist in 2013. "XO" was chosen as the lead single for both the U.S. and worldwide; while "Drunk in Love" is being released to urban radio in the US only.false2021-06-07 11:06:26BEYONCÉ820142014-11-242014-11-2494Contemporary R&BDancehallElectroHip HopPopReggaeTrapElectropopAlternative R&BContemporary R&B;Electropop;Pop;Alternative R&B114364219264427240a8e-ad2a-41e3-aeb1-d022b46cd0b4859d0860-d480-4efd-970c-c05d5f1776b88596171e-23b2-4bdd-8f1c-11960df0ecbe/config/metadata/library/6a/6a32b2eaa93fdb2f476c2955521958b7/folder.jpgBeyoncéBeyoncé feat. Pharrell WilliamsBeyoncéBeyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( bee-YON-say; née Knowles; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release of her debut album Dangerously in Love (2003), which featured the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".
Following the 2006 disbanding of Destiny's Child, she released her second solo album, B'Day, which contained singles "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful Liar". Beyoncé also starred in multiple films such as The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), Obsessed (2009), and The Lion King (2019). Her marriage to Jay-Z and her portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010. It spawned the successful singles "If I Were a Boy", "Single Ladies", and "Halo".
After splitting from her manager and father Mathew Knowles in 2010, Beyoncé released her musically diverse fourth album 4 in 2011. She later achieved universal acclaim for her sonically experimental visual albums, Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016), the latter of which was the world's best-selling album of 2016 and the most acclaimed album of her career, exploring themes of infidelity and womanism. In 2018, she released Everything Is Love, a collaborative album with her husband, Jay-Z, as the Carters. As a featured artist, Beyoncé topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the remixes of "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran in 2017 and "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion in 2020. The same year, she released the musical film and visual album Black Is King to widespread acclaim.
Beyoncé is one of the world's best-selling recording artists, having sold over 120 million records worldwide as a solo artist by 2010. She is the first solo artist to have their first six studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Her success during the 2000s was recognized with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s Top Certified Artist of the Decade as well as Billboard's Top Female Artist of the Decade. Beyoncé's accolades include 28 Grammy Awards, 26 MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2014), 24 NAACP Image Awards, 31 BET Awards, and 17 Soul Train Music Awards; all of which are more than any other singer. In 2014, Billboard named her the highest-earning black musician of all time, while in 2020, she was included on Time's list of 100 women who defined the last century.