PREVIEW

Beyoncé dropped some huge music news during a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday. The singer starred in an ad for U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon and used it as a vehicle to announce her next album. The commercial, aired during the biggest sporting event of the year to one of the world's biggest audiences, featured Beyoncé trying and failing - thanks to Verizon's reliability as a provider - to "break the internet” Out of options, she eventually tells her people, "OK, they ready - drop the new music.” Moments later, Beyoncé's own real-life social channels all announced her next album will drop on 29 March. The record is a follow-up to the diva's ground-breaking Renaissance project, and she's already released two of its songs to streaming platforms. Judging from those tracks - titled Texas Hold 'Em and 16 Carriages - the album will be heavily influenced by country music. Fans have leapt onto the lyrics of 16 Carriages as a revelation of the pain Beyoncé experienced growing up when she discovered her father had cheated on her mother. ”At fifteen, the innocence was gone astray," she sings, over acoustic guitar and with a distinct country twang. ”Had to take care of home at an early age, I saw mama cryin', I saw daddy lyin’." The Crazy in Love hitmaker released the first act of Renaissance, which had a dance music theme, in July 2022. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT