Lemonade is the Beyoncé album centered on a one-hour film that premiered on HBO in 2016.
Released on April 23, 2016, Lemonade combines music with poetry, spoken passages, and visual storytelling. Its HBO premiere presented the project as a single cinematic work before the album became widely available through digital and streaming services.
The album draws on R&B, soul, rock, hip-hop, blues, and country influences. Its narrative is often described through stages such as intuition, denial, anger, apathy, emptiness, accountability, reform, forgiveness, hope, and redemption. The songs address personal and collective experiences, including family history, relationships, race, and Black womanhood.
Lemonade debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and received widespread critical acclaim. It is not the same project as Beyoncé’s 2013 self-titled visual album or Black Is King, the 2020 film connected to The Lion King: The Gift. Lemonade’s visual component was directed by Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé.