Beyoncé is dropping new music! Here’s everything we know so far

The pop icon announced that her anticipated seventh solo studio album, RENAISSANCE, will arrive next month

Hero image in post
Hero image in post

The pop icon announced that her anticipated seventh solo studio album, RENAISSANCE, will arrive next month

By Hannah Bertolino16 Jun 2022
3 mins read time
3 mins read time

Bey fans, rejoice! After two years of waiting, Beyoncé will officially return to music next month with her elusive new project: “RENAISSANCE”.

Last May, the music icon hinted that she was “cooking some music” in an audio clip shared from the Destiny’s Child group chat. A few months later, in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Bey confirmed the rumours, stating: “Yes! New music is coming.”

“I’ve been in the studio for a year and a half. Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies,” she said, teasing a long wait for new content (TBH, we’re not shocked). “Still, there’s nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio. After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old.”

Earlier this week – in true pop star fashion – Beyoncé signalled that the wait would soon be over, sending fans into hysterics by deleting all the profile photos from her social media accounts. Now, Tidal, Spotfiy, and Apple Music, have all confirmed the new era – revealing on social media that Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE will drop on July 29.

While the musician is yet to reveal details about her return, it seems that RENAISSANCE will be a multi-part project, with its first, 16-track instalment – “act i” – arriving this summer.

Meanwhile, last August, Bey hinted that the project will draw inspiration from all the “isolation and injustices” over the past few years. “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,” she said.

On social media, fans are celebrating the pop star’s return, anticipating that RENAISSANCE will be her first, straight-forward solo project in six years and her seventh-ever studio album. “Beyoncé really making the internet lose it over an album release 20 years into her solo career,” stated one user. “The longevity is insane.” Another wrote: “We made it through the Beyoncé drought!”

After dropping her sixth studio album – Lemonade – in 2016, Beyoncé released Everything Is Love, a joint album with Jay-Z; Homecoming, a live album with an accompanying concert film; and Black Is King, a visual album released alongside Disney’s live-action Lion King film. Her last 16-track solo album, 2008’s I Am Sasha Fierce, gathered up six Grammys – setting a new record for the most Grammys won by a solo female artist in a single year. Perhaps RENAISSANCE is next?

Pre-save RENAISSANCE here.