Lemonade was the Beyoncé album released in 2016 as a visual album about identity, relationships, and Black womanhood.
Lemonade premiered as a one-hour film on HBO on April 23, 2016, and the audio album was released the same day. Its songs and visual chapters explore themes including betrayal, grief, anger, reconciliation, ancestry, and resilience.
The project draws on poetry by Warsan Shire and features collaborations with artists including Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, and The Weeknd. Its imagery also highlights Black women, Southern landscapes, family history, and cultural memory.
Lemonade is sometimes treated as only a music album, but its visual film is an essential part of the project’s design. The album received nine Grammy nominations and won Best Urban Contemporary Album. “Formation,” its opening single, also became one of Beyoncé’s most discussed songs.