Lemonade is Beyoncé’s 2016 album about infidelity, identity, and Black womanhood.
Released on April 23, 2016, Lemonade is Beyoncé’s sixth studio album. It was accompanied by an hour-long film on HBO that combined music, poetry, imagery, and narration. The project moves through themes often described as intuition, denial, anger, apathy, accountability, reform, forgiveness, hope, and redemption.
The album includes “Formation,” “Sorry,” “Hold Up,” “Freedom,” and “All Night.” It also features guest appearances from artists including Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, and The Weeknd. The lyrics and visuals connect personal relationships with broader histories of race, family, resilience, and the American South.
Lemonade received widespread critical acclaim and earned Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Urban Contemporary Album, winning the latter. Its title refers to a proverb about making lemonade from lemons, a phrase associated with Beyoncé’s grandmother and Jay-Z’s grandmother in the accompanying film.