Beyoncé surprise announces new album during Super Bowl
Most musicians would avoid announcing anything during the Super Bowl like the plague. Beyoncé is not most musicians.
Most musicians would avoid announcing anything during the Super Bowl like the plague. Beyoncé is not most musicians.
The 42-year-old pop star revealed that her new album, Act II, is set to release on March 29. She made the announcement in a post on Instagram following her appearance in a commercial during the Super Bowl LVIII game.
In the Verizon commercial that aired moments after halftime, Beyoncé jokingly discussed with comedian Tony Hale the idea of doing something that would “break the internet.” She riffed on concepts like “Bar-bey,” “BOTUS,” and “Beyonc-A.I.,” concluding with the statement, “Drop the new music.”
Act II, as the name suggests, marks the second act of her previously announced Renaissance trilogy.
When Beyoncé initially announced her seventh studio album, Renaissance, released in July 2022, it was billed as Act I: Renaissance, implying that future albums were in store.
To our collective surprise, the pop star — who wore a white cowboy hat to the 2024 Grammy Awards last weekend — has gone country, as heard in the first two singles from the album, ‘Texas Hold ’Em’ and ‘16 Carriages.’
Texas Hold ’Em was co-written by Canadian pop songwriter Lowell, with production and instrumental contributions from Rhiannon Giddens, Raphael Saadiq, Hit-Boy, Nathan Ferraro, Killah B, and others.
‘16 Carriages’ features Dave Hamelin, Gavin Williams, Justus West, Saadiq, and others.
The announcement was accompanied by a video directed by English photographer Nadia Lee Cohen, soundtracked with fuzzed-out snippets of Chuck Berry’s song ‘Maybelline,’
The short film pays homage to Wim Wenders’ 1984 film, Paris, Texas, and includes a scene of old cowboys gazing up at a billboard adorned with Beyoncé and the words “Texas! Hold ’Em.”