Lemonade is the Beyoncé album paired with a 2016 visual film about Black womanhood, infidelity, and resilience.
Released on April 23, 2016, Lemonade was presented through an hour-long film broadcast on HBO. Its songs move through emotional stages including intuition, denial, anger, apathy, emptiness, accountability, reform, forgiveness, hope, and redemption. The work draws on R&B, rock, country, blues, reggae, and spoken-word traditions.
The album features “Formation,” “Sorry,” “Hold Up,” and “Daddy Lessons.” Its themes connect personal relationships with African American history, family memory, identity, and social justice. The project received widespread critical acclaim and won the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
A common mix-up is treating Lemonade as only a music album or only a film. Beyoncé designed the two parts to function together, making the visual presentation central to the project’s meaning and reception.