Music
Beyoncé Confirms Cowboy Carter & Renaissance Aren't Getting Music Videos
For over two years, fans have wondered if the singer would release visuals for new albums.
Beyoncé has mastered the art of visuals, but you won’t be getting any more of them soon. In her new GQ cover story, published on Sept. 10, the singer confirmed that there would be no music videos for Cowboy Carter and 2022 album Renaissance — at least for now.
In the rare interview, Beyoncé explained that she wanted listeners to focus solely on the music and inspirations of her two recent albums. “I thought it was important that during a time where all we see is visuals, that the world can focus on the voice,” she said. “The music is so rich in history and instrumentation. It takes months to digest, research, and understand.”
Bey also said that music videos can sometimes “be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music,” which she wanted to focus on this time. “The music needed space to breathe on its own,” she said. “The years of hard work and detail put into an album that takes over four years! The music is enough.”
... But Will There Be Videos Eventually?
From her 2013 self-titled album, which had a music video for every song, to 2016’s Lemonade and 2019’s The Lion King-inspired project Black Is King, which were released with accompanying films, the singer has set a high standard for the visuals of her music. She received MTV’s Video Vanguard Award after Beyoncé, while Lemonade and Black Is King earned Grammy nominations for Best Music Film.
But she’s seemingly changed the medium for Renaissance, pointing to her 2023 world tour and its concert film. “The fans from all over the world became the visual,” she said. “We all got the visual on tour. We then got more visuals from my film.”
However, Bey never said that proper music videos wouldn’t come for Renaissance and Cowboy Carter at all. She implied the opposite after Renaissance was released in July 2022, stating in a press release that visuals “were scheduled for a later date.”
Renaissance and Cowboy Carter are the first two “acts” in a planned trilogy, meaning that “Act 3” will arrive at some point in the future. Some fans have speculated that after all three albums are released, the singer may release news visuals as individual music videos or one all-encompassing film. With Bey, anything could be up her sleeve.
