Beyoncé became her first Billboard 200 number-one album released with no advance announcement.
The self-titled album arrived unexpectedly on December 13, 2013, through the iTunes Store. Beyoncé announced the release through a short social-media message, and the album appeared without the usual long promotional campaign or advance singles. This surprise-release strategy became one of the most influential album-launch models in popular music.
Beyoncé was also a visual album: each song was accompanied by a music video, creating a connected audio-visual project. The release included collaborations with artists such as Jay-Z, Drake, Frank Ocean, and Pharrell Williams.
The album topped the Billboard 200 and was widely praised for its cohesive presentation and themes of sexuality, marriage, fame, and self-definition. Lemonade also debuted at number one, but it followed Beyoncé’s earlier surprise-release breakthrough.