Beyoncé released two surprise visual studio albums between 2013 and 2016: Beyoncé and Lemonade.
Beyoncé arrived without advance announcement on December 13, 2013. It was presented as a self-titled visual album, pairing 14 songs with 17 music videos. The unconventional release strategy bypassed a traditional promotional buildup and strongly influenced later surprise releases in popular music.
Lemonade followed on April 23, 2016. It was also accompanied by a film, and its songs were organized around themes of relationships, identity, family, race, and resilience. The album became Beyoncé’s sixth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200.
The number is two only when the question refers to the period from 2013 through 2016 and to studio albums released as surprise visual albums. Beyoncé later released other studio albums, including Renaissance in 2022, but that album was not issued as a surprise visual album in the same format.