Beyoncé’s self-titled album was released as a surprise digital project on December 13, 2013.
The fifth studio album appeared without the usual advance promotional campaign. It was issued through Columbia Records and iTunes, and every song arrived with an accompanying music video, leading Beyoncé and her team to describe it as a visual album. The unexpected release quickly became a major event in the music industry.
The album contains “Drunk in Love,” “Partition,” and “Pretty Hurts,” among other tracks. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and made Beyoncé the first woman to have her first five studio albums debut at number one in the United States. The title is simply Beyoncé, so it is often called the visual album or the self-titled album to distinguish it from her artist name.