Which Beyoncé album began her three-act project with its 2022 release?

Renaissance began Beyoncé’s three-act project when it was released in 2022.

Renaissance, also known as Act I, is Beyoncé’s seventh studio album. Columbia Records released it on July 29, 2022. The album is rooted in dance, house, disco, funk, and ballroom traditions, and it credits or draws on a wide range of earlier recordings and Black queer club culture.

Its lead single, “Break My Soul,” became Beyoncé’s eighth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist. Other prominent tracks include “Cuff It,” “Alien Superstar,” and “America Has a Problem.”

Renaissance received nine Grammy nominations and won four awards at the 2023 ceremony. Its follow-up, Cowboy Carter, was released in 2024 as Act II. Beyoncé described the albums as parts of a larger three-act project, although the title of a third act was not established by the album itself in the same way.