Beyoncé’s self-titled album became the first album released with no advance announcement in December 2013.
Beyoncé was released digitally through the iTunes Store on December 13, 2013, with little traditional pre-release promotion. The surprise launch changed expectations for how major artists could release albums and quickly became known as a surprise album release.
The project was also a visual album: every song was accompanied by a music video, giving the record a connected audiovisual form. Its tracks include “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” and “Flawless.”
This album is distinct from Lemonade, which followed in 2016, and Renaissance, which arrived in 2022. The title is simply Beyoncé, although it is often called the “visual album” to distinguish it from her wider discography.