Beyoncé released the surprise self-titled album Beyoncé without advance promotion in December 2013.
The album appeared on the iTunes Store on December 13, 2013, with no preceding single or conventional marketing campaign. Beyoncé described it as a visual album because every song was accompanied by a music video, making the project both an audio release and a connected film collection.
The album was Beyoncé’s fifth studio album and followed 4, which had been released in 2011. Its tracks include “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” and “Flawless.” The release strategy became highly influential in popular music because it turned secrecy and immediate global availability into part of the artistic event.
The title can create confusion because Beyoncé’s name is also the artist’s name. In this context, “Beyoncé” refers specifically to the 2013 album, not to the singer generally or to her later visual album Lemonade.