Act II Is Coming: Here's Everything We Know About Beyoncé's Exciting New Era

Stop the track… Beyoncé has used the biggest night in American sport to launch the next phase of her career.

Rumours have been rife among the Beyhive for the last few weeks that the Break My Soul singer could be cooking something up to serve as an “Act II”, after her hugely successful Renaissance era.

And it looks like fans were right on the money, with the music legend dropping some surprise new single during Sunday night’s game.

Here’s what we know so far…

It all started with Beyoncé’s new Super Bowl advert with Verizon…

In a 90-minute ad campaign with Verizon Media, the Queen Bey poked fun at some of her must headline-grabbing past moments, including the surprise drop of her Lemonade album.

As the ad unfolds, Bey’s attempts to “break the internet” get more extreme, including running for “Beyoncé Of The United States” and becoming the “first woman to launch the firs rocket for the first performance in space”.

The whole thing looked like a lot of money was spent on it, and it was also a lot of fun.

Then came two brand new Beyoncé singles…

Bey’s Verizon ad ended with her cryptically declaring: “They ready… drop the new music.”

And people… she wasn’t bluffing.

On Sunday night, she surprise-released two new tracks, Texas Hold Em and 16 Carriages, both of which appeared to confirm long-held rumours that Beyoncé would be going country with her next era.

Is Beyoncé really releasing an ‘Act II’ album this year, then?

Ever since Beyoncé billed her 2022 album Renaissance as “Act I”, fans have been curious about exactly what she had up her sleeve.

Back in June 2022, Variety reported that the project would be a mix of dance and country music, and when Renaissance proved to be just the former, many fans speculated that the latter could feature on its own separate project later down the line.

During the Super Bowl, Beyoncé shared a short teaser clip on Instagram revealing that “Act II” would be coming in just a few weeks’ time on 29 March.

Has Beyoncé released country music before?

Yes! The Houston native’s real first forway into country music was on her 2016 album Lemonade, which featured the country-infused track Daddy Lessons.

Bey teamed up with country music icons The Chicks for an incredible performance at the Country Music Awards the following year, which was widely well-received (albeit not from everyone within the country music sphere…). The foursome also released their version of Daddy Lessons as a single after their CMAs performance.

Disappointingly, although Beyoncé submitted Daddy Lessons for consideration within the country fields at the Grammys, it was rejected.

Cowgirl aesthetics formed a part of the accompanying visuals for the Renaissance album and its accompanying tour, but Beyoncé has leaned even further into this during her recent live appearances, including at the Grammys and a pre-Super Bowl party in Las Vegas last week.

And what’s this about a Beyoncé Las Vegas residency?

Over the weekend, speculation was rife that after dominating the global conversation with her Renaissance stadium tour, Beyoncé would be trying something different for her next live music venture, setting up residency at the new Sphere music venue in Las Vegas.

Although nothing is officially announced yet, the Sphere was featured prominently in Bey’s Verizon ad.