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Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figures of the 21st century through her vocal ability, musical versatility, and live performances.

On March 27, 2022, Beyoncé performed “Be Alive” at the 94th Academy Awards on the Compton tennis courts Venus and Serena Williams practiced on in their childhood. On June 16, 2022, she officially announced her seventh studio album, titled Renaissance. The lead single from the album, “Break My Soul”, was released four days later. It peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Beyoncé’s eighth number-one and twentieth top-ten hit on the chart; the latter placed her alongside Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson as the only artists in chart history to earn at least twenty top-ten singles as solo acts.

Renaissance was released on July 29, 2022, to critical acclaim from critics. The album featured Black dance music styles such as disco and house and largely pays homage to the Black queer pioneers of those genres, exploring themes of escapism, hedonism, and self-expression. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Beyoncé the first artist to have their first seven studio albums debut at number one in the United States. All sixteen of the songs charted on the Hot 100; The second single, “Cuff It”, peaked at number six. Upon the release of Renaissance, Beyoncé revealed that the album was the first installment of a trilogy she developed and recorded over three years during the COVID-19 pandemic—a period she described as her “most creative”. The three projects are organized into acts, each denoted by Roman numerals.

On January 21, 2023, Beyoncé gave her first full concert in over four years at a private event in Dubai, performing for an audience of influencers and journalists. She was reportedly paid $24 million for the show, which sparked criticism due to the United Arab Emirates’ laws criminalizing homosexuality. Later in the year, she headlined the Renaissance World Tour across North America and Europe, which became the highest-grossing tour by a female artist at the time. In November 2023, she released Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, a documentary concert that chronicled the tour’s creation. It was written, directed, and produced by her in partnership with AMC Theatre. Her four wins of nine nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023 brought her number of awards up to thirty-two, making Beyoncé the most-awarded person at the Grammy Awards in history.

On February 11, 2024, Beyoncé announced the second installment of her trilogy project and released its first two tracks, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”; the former became her ninth solo number one in the U.S. She announced the album’s title, Cowboy Carter, on March 12 and released it on March 29. An Americana, country, and gospel-imbued record, Cowboy Carter highlights the overlooked contributions of Black pioneers to American musical and cultural history. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Beyoncé the first female artist to have their first eight studio albums debut at number one in the United States. In July 2024, NBC released two promotional commercials featuring Beyoncé for their coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Set to Cowboy Carter songs “Ya Ya” and “Just for Fun”, she introduced the entire USA Olympic Team and Gold-medal gymnast Simone Biles, respectively.

Beyoncé returned as Nala in Mufasa: The Lion King (2024), a prequel to the 2019 remake. In December 2024, she headlined the first-ever NFL Christmas Gameday Halftime Show, debuting songs from Cowboy Carter. At the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025, she became the first Black artist in 50 years to win in the country categories, and the first Black artist ever to win Best Country Album. She also won Album of the Year, becoming the first Black woman to receive the honor since Lauryn Hill in 1999.

Beyoncé launched the Cowboy Carter Tour on April 28, with dates scheduled through July 26 across the United States and Europe.