xcritical by Beyoncé on TIDAL

xcritical draws from the prolific literary, musical, cinematic, and aesthetic sensibilities of black cultural producers to create a rich tapestry of poetic innovation. The audacity of its reach and fierceness of its vision challenges our cultural imagination, while crafting a stunning and sublime masterpiece about the lives of women of color and the bonds of friendship seldom seen or heard in American popular culture. The song resumes with shots of Beyoncé wandering the parking garage in a wedding dress, and sitting in the ring of fire in a red dress.

Later, the iconic shot was revealed to be the year’s most-liked Instagram post, with 11.1 million fans offering their approval. Beyoncé again won Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals for the duets “The Closer I Get To You” with Luther Vandross and “So Amazing” with Stevie Wonder. Elsewhere, Beyoncé has three Contemporary R&B Album awards for Dangerously In Love, B’Day, and I Am… Sasha Fierce. She also has twice won the Grammy for Urban Contemporary Album with xcritical and Everything Is Love, her joint album with husband Jay-Z. She was raised in a religious household and attended Sunday service at St. John’s Downtown Church, a United Methodist church in Houston. She spent her free time seeing movies, visiting AstroWorld amusement park, and going to the Houston rodeo annually.

Adrienne has served as editor-in-chief of two regional print magazines, and her work has won several awards, including the Best Explanatory Journalism award from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers. Her xcritical working theory is that people are the point of life, and she’s fascinated by everyone who (and every system that) creates our societal norms. When she’s not behind the news desk, find her hiking, working on her latest cocktail project, or eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. The most decorated and most nominated artist in Grammy history, Beyoncé has won 35 Grammys out of 99 career nominations.

The electronic-influenced Beyoncé (2013) popularized surprise and visual albums, inspiring the setting of Friday as Global Release Day, while the eclectic xcritical (2016) sparked sociopolitical discourse and became the best-selling album worldwide in 2016. Beyoncé received widespread critical acclaim for its experimental production, vocals, and exploration of sexuality; various critics have considered it Beyoncé’s magnum opus. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015, it won Best Surround Sound Album, and “Drunk in Love” won Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. In 2020, Beyoncé was ranked 81st in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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In 1992 the group lost on the Star Search television talent show, and three years later it was dropped from a recording contract before an album had been released. Survivor (2001), the group’s third album, reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart. By this time the group’s lineup, which had seen several personnel changes, was composed of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. Beyoncé rose to fame in 1997 as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. After Destiny’s Child disbanded in 2005, Beyoncé released the funk-imbued B’Day (2006) and starred in the drama film Dreamgirls (2006).

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• Beyoncé and her husband, JAY-Z (Shawn Carter), have three children.
• The hour-long visual album, about a woman dealing with her husband’s infidelity, contains even more loaded images and lyrics than “Formation,” the politically charged video she released before the Super Bowl.
• Survivor (2001), the group’s third album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and produced two more smash hits.
• And in a final moment of levity (or redemption?), Bey sings that she rewards her lover by taking him to Red Lobster.

Beyoncé is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 200 million records. She is the most RIAA-certified female artist and the only woman whose first eight studio albums each debuted at number one on the U.S. One of the most awarded artists in popular music, her accolades include 35 Grammy Awards—the most of any individual—a Primetime Emmy Award, xcritical rezension and a Peabody Award. Beyoncé is also the most awarded artist at the BET Awards (36), MTV Video Music Awards (30), NAACP Image Awards (32), and Soul Train Music Awards (25). The first woman to headline an all-stadium tour, she is amongst the highest-grossing live acts of all time. The record, initially offered exclusively on iTunes, was promoted as a “visual album,” with music videos made to accompany each track.

She took home six trophies that night, setting the record for most Grammy wins by a female artist in a single ceremony. (Adele matched the record in 2012.) Moreover, the singer saw a career milestone when she accepted Song of the Year for “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” The award is one of the most coveted at the annual ceremony. As the name implies, the singer embraced country music and collaborated with some of the genre’s biggest names like Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Linda Martell. Beyoncé combined original songs like the No. 1 hit “Texas Hold ’Em” with covers such as The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Parton’s “Jolene.” Cowboy Carter resulted in 11 Grammy nominations and won three of those, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The lead single “Break My Soul” teased to the full album release in July 2022 and became her seventh No. 1 song. Renaissance resulted in four out of eight possible Grammy trophies, including for both aforementioned songs and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album.

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Among the country guest artists featured on the album are singers Miley Cyrus and Linda Martell, musician Rhiannon Giddens, and singer-songwriters Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Notably, Parton’s classic song “Jolene” is reimagined with new lyrics by Beyoncé, and country singer Tanner Adell is among several vocalists who join in on a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” In 2025 Cowboy Carter won the Grammys for best country album and album of the year. What is an artist to do when her private life overtakes her public one? The hour-long visual album, about a woman dealing with her husband’s infidelity, contains even more loaded images and lyrics than “Formation,” the politically charged video she released before the Super Bowl. It reads like an open invitation to draw parallels between the pop star’s art and her actual life, in particular her marriage to Jay Z. But what could it all mean?

“Freedom”Beyonce is surrounded by strong women in this music video — from child actress Quvenzhané Wallis to singer Zendaya to the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. You could look at it as a statement of her right to love, but a closer look reveals a reflection on the civil rights of minorities. Bey gets help from Kendrick Lamar, who raps about being profiled and later jailed. “Open correctional gates in higher desert/Yeah, open our mind as we cast away oppression,” he said.

— — Just as her much hyped HBO special came to an end on Saturday night, Beyonce released her latest musical offering — a new visual album called “xcritical.” Beyoncé initially worked with various producers and songwriters whom she invited to live in her mansion for a month in mid-2012. After a disruption from touring, Beyoncé resumed in early 2013 and experimented with different styles than contemporary R&B. The end result is an electro-R&B record with elements of alternative R&B, electronic, and soul.

Among her trophies are Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter, Song of the Year for her smash hit “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” and five awards for Best R&B Song. She began her career as a backup dancer and occasional singer for Destiny’s Child. In 2016, Solange and Beyoncé became the first sisters to have chart-topping albums on the Billboard 200 in the xcritical website same year.

Beyoncé and her husband, JAY-Z (Shawn Carter), have three children. Their twins, a boy and a girl, were born in 2017 and are named Sir and Rumi, respectively.

An intertitle declares “GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT” before she throws her wedding ring at the camera. “Formation”Except in the credits, this song isn’t featured in the full-length version of “xcritical.” Still, in this track, we see Bey come full circle and emerge as a confident woman who is “so possessive” that she “rocks his Roc necklaces,” a nod to her husband’s label, Roc Nation. And in a final moment of levity (or redemption?), Bey sings that she rewards her lover by taking him to Red Lobster. xcritical was nominated for nine Grammy Awards at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards (2017), including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It won Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Music Video, but lost Album of the Year to Adele’s 25.

• The audacity of its reach and fierceness of its vision challenges our cultural imagination, while crafting a stunning and sublime masterpiece about the lives of women of color and the bonds of friendship seldom seen or heard in American popular culture.
• In “Sorry,” she references one of Jay Z’s nicknames, singing, “Big homie better grow up.” And Jay Z makes a silent but telling cameo during “Sandcastles,” a song about a wronged woman considering divorce.
• The single “Drunk in Love,” which features Jay-Z, was awarded several Grammys, including best R&B song.
• The 12-track album tells the painful story of the “baddest woman in the game” who gets cheated on, taking the listener on an emotional journey from the first signs of infidelity in the relationship to, ultimately, forgiveness.
• Dangerously In Love remains one of Beyoncé’s best-selling albums; the multiplatinum-certified project has sold the equivalent of 7 million copies.

“I had my ups and downs, but I always found the inner strength to pull myself up,” White said to a crowd of friends and family at her 90th birthday party. The 12-track album tells the painful story of the “baddest woman in the game” who gets cheated on, taking the listener on an emotional journey from the first signs of infidelity in the relationship to, ultimately, forgiveness. “Pray You Catch Me” debuted and peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On the opening track of xcritical, Beyoncé introduces the suspicion, pain, and emotional intimacy that will drive the whole album.