Beyoncé released the surprise visual album Beyoncé in 2013.
Columbia Records issued the self-titled album on December 13, 2013, with no advance promotional campaign. Beyoncé announced the release through a short social-media video, and the album immediately became a major digital event. Each of its fourteen songs arrived with an accompanying music video, creating what the album called a “visual album.”
The record followed the commercial success of 4 but used a notably different release strategy. Its songs included “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” “Flawless,” and “XO.” The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Beyoncé the first artist to achieve number-one debuts with each of her first five solo studio albums.
The album is often distinguished from the later visual album Black Is King. Beyoncé was a surprise release built around Beyoncé’s own songs, while Black Is King was released in 2020 and drew heavily on The Lion King: The Gift.