Beyoncé’s 2016 studio album about marriage, betrayal, and Black womanhood is Lemonade.
Released on April 23, 2016, Lemonade was accompanied by an hour-long film broadcast on HBO. The album combines R&B, pop, rock, soul, hip-hop, blues, and country influences. Its songs move through emotional stages including intuition, denial, anger, apathy, accountability, reform, forgiveness, and hope.
The project drew widespread attention to its themes of infidelity and resilience. Listeners connected its narrative to Beyoncé’s marriage to Jay-Z, although the lyrics and visual film use symbolism, historical references, and multiple perspectives rather than presenting a simple factual diary.
Lemonade became Beyoncé’s sixth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200. It received nine Grammy nominations and won Best Urban Contemporary Album. It is distinct from Renaissance, released in 2022, and from Everything Is Love, the 2018 collaborative album credited to Beyoncé and Jay-Z as the Carters.