A Guide to the Beyoncé Albums in Order

• Release date: June 23, 2003
• Singles: "Crazy in Love," "Baby Boy," "Me, Myself, and I," "Naughty Girl"

Ladies and gentlemen—this is how you do a debut. Beyoncé had a was on a mission to prove herself and boy did she. If you weren't around in 2003, there had been doubts from critics, media members, and the general public about Bey's ability to be a successful solo artist. Even her record label (Columbia) told her that she "didn't have one hit on the album." So what did she do? She came out swinging. "Crazy in Love" was the first single, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 where it remained for eight weeks. "Baby Boy" followed, reaching the number one spot for nine weeks. "Me, Myself, and I" and "Naughty Girl" were top five hits, and the album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.

Additionally, Bey gave legendary performances at that year's BET Awards, MTV VMAs (where she literally hung upside down from the top of Madison Square Garden), and the 2004 Grammy Awards where she opened the show with Prince, performed the album's titular track "Dangerously In Love," and took home a record-tying five Grammys. To date, DIL has sold over 11 million copies worldwide.

Track listing:

• "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z (3:56)
• "Naughty Girl" (3:28)
• "Baby Boy"featuring Sean Paul (4:04)
• "Hip Hop Star" featuring Big Boi and Sleepy Brown
• "Be With You" (4:20)"Me, Myself & I" (5:01)
• "Yes" (4:19)
• "Signs" featuring Missy Elliot (4:58)
• "Speechless" (6:00)
• "That's How You Like It" featuring Jay-Z (3:39)
• "The Closer I Get To You" featuring Luther Vandross (4:57)
• "Dangerously in Love" (4:53)
• "Beyoncé Interlude" (0:16)
• "Gift From Virgo" (2:43)
• "Daddy" (4:58)

• Release date: September 1, 2006
• Singles: "Deja Vu," "Ring the Alarm," "Irreplaceable," "Beautiful Liar," "Get Me Bodied," "Green Light"

B'Day was another era that was magical to experience in real time. For starters, Beyoncé was supposed to be taking a break because she had spent the previous two years promoting and touring Destiny's Child's final album Destiny's Fulfilled, had filmed The Pink Panther (2006) right before DC3 released their final album, and had gone straight into filming Dreamgirls (2006) right after the Destiny's Fulfilled tour was over. Oh and we can't forget "Check On It," either. While Bey had certainly proved herself with DIL, there was still some questions coming from certain folks as to whether or not she would able to avoid the "sophomore slump." Once again, Beyoncé proved the critics wrong. The on-going theme of B'Day was two weeks—she recorded the album in two weeks, and spontaneously decided to film videos for some of the remaining tracks on the record over a two week period as well.

"Deja Vu" was the first track off the album (which got us that iconic 2006 BET Awards performance), followed by "Ring the Alarm," (which brought us that iconic 2006 MTV VMAs performance), along with "Irreplaceable," "Beautiful Liar," "Get Me Bodied," and "Green Light." B'Day debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 200 as well, and has sold over eight million copies worldwide to date.

Track listing:

• "Deja Vu" featuring Jay-Z (4:00)
• "Get Me Bodied" (3:25)
• "Suga Mama" (3:26)
• "Upgrade U" featuring Jay-Z (4:33)
• "Ring the Alarm" (3:23)
• "Kitty Kat" (3:56)
• "Freakum Dress" (3:20)
• "Green Light" (3:49)
• "Irreplaceable" (3:49)
• "Resentment" (4:40)
• "Check On It" featuring Bun B and Slim Thug (3:30)

Deluxe tracks:

• "Encore for the Fans" (0:39)
• "Listen" (from Dreamgirls) (3:37)
• "Beautiful Liar' featuring Shakira (3:19)
• "Welcome to Hollywood" featuring Jay-Z (3:18)
• "Flaws and All" (3:18)
• "Worldwide Woman" (3:41)
• "If" (3:18)
• "Amor Gitano" (3:48)

• Release date: November 12, 2008
• Singles: "If I Were a Boy," "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), "Diva," "Halo," "Ego," "Sweet Dreams," "Broken-Hearted Girl," "Video Phone," "Why Don't You Love Me"

The thing about being a 2000s kid/teen growing up with Beyoncé, is that you remember each of her album eras because it directly connects to what grade you were in/what was going on in your life at that time. I Am… Sasha Fierce was fun because we really didn't know for sure that we were getting another album from Bey. It wasn't quite like the surprise albums she would drop later, but since she had just finished wrapping two movies (Cadillac Records (2008) and Obsessed (2009), and her and Jay-Z had tied the knot after the B'Day era, a lot of us thought she was going to be taking a break. As it turns out, getting married was one of things that prompted Beyoncé to get back into the studio because it gave her a whole new range of inspiration.

The first single "If I Were a Boy" was unlike anything we'd ever heard from Bey before, the concept of the double album with one side being "Beyoncé," and the other side being "Sasha Fierce" was cool, and the phenomena of "Single Ladies" being released in real time was insane. Keep in mind that this was the year 2008. We were on the cusp of social media, but it wasn't what it would be five years later. "Single Ladies" was the first real song to go "viral" in the sense that people were doing challenges and uploading their videos to YouTube. It was super fun. Ultimately IASF earned Bey another No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 200, and six Grammy's, which set a record for the most awards won in one night by a female artist.

Track listing:

• "If I Were A Boy" (4:09)
• "Halo" (4:21)
• "Disappear" (4:27)
• "Broken-Hearted Girl" (4:37)
• "Ave Maria" (3:42)
• "Smash Into You" (4:31)
• "Satellites" (3:06)
• "That's Why You're Beautiful" (3:41)
• "Single Ladies" (3:13)
• "Radio" (3:38)
• "Diva" (3:20)
• "Sweet Dreams" (3:28)
• "Video Phone" (3:35)
• "Hello" (4:16)
• "Ego" (3:56)
• "Scared Of Lonely" (3:42)

Deluxe tracks:

• "Ego" featuring Kanye West (4:44)
• "Why Don't You Love Me" (3:37)
• "Honesty" (3:47)
• "Save The Hero" (4:30)
• "Disappear" (4:28)
• "Ave Maria" (3:42)

• Release date: June 24, 2011
• Singles: "Run the World (Girls)," "Best Thing I Never Had," "Party," "Love On Top," "Countdown," "I Care" "End of Time"

As it turns out, Beyoncé did finally take a break for a year before getting back into the studio to record her fourth studio album 4. This era was pivotal one for a lot of reasons. For starters, this was the album where Bey became her own manager (which would be the beginning of the direction we would see her career head in her 30s). Also, those that were around during that time very clearly remember 4 getting leaked in its entirety before its release date. As you all know, an album leaking is devastating for an artist because it could mean that people won't purchase the record and experience it the way they are supposed to since they've essentially already heard it for free. Even with that, 4 was able to overcome that setback and still debut at the top of the charts like its predecessors.

It was during this era that Bey got pregnant with her first born Blue Ivy Carter. She also headlined Glastonbury during that summer in the early stages of her pregnancy as well. Beyoncé's Glastonbury sets remains a classic—it was kind of like Coachella before Coachella, and of course, we got the reveal of her being pregnant during her 2011 MTV VMAs performance of "Love On Top" when she dropped the mic, opened her blazer, and rubbed her stomach. And now Blue is dancing alongside her at her tour. Crazy.

Track listing:

• "1+1" (4:33)
• "I Care" (3:59)
• "I Miss You" (2:59)
• "Best Thing I Never Had" (4:13)
• "Party" (4:05)
• "Rather Die Young" (3:42)
• "Start Over" (3:19)
• "Love On Top" (4:27)
• "Countdown" (3:32)
• "End of Time" (3:43)
• "I Was Here" (3:59)
• "Run the World (Girls)" (3:56)

• Released: December 13, 2013
• Singles: "XO," "Drunk in Love," "Partition," "Pretty Hurts"

Beyoncé wasn't kidding when she said she made the world stop when her digital dropped. Bey quite literally changed the way music releases are done, and while many have tried to replicate the surprise album drop, it has never been done in the way Beyoncé did it in 2013, and the best thing about it was that we didn't have the slightest inkling that it was coming as at the time she was on her Mrs. Carter World Tour with the material from previous four albums. Since she wasn't able to go on a world tour during the 4 era due to her pregnancy, most just assumed the Mrs. Carter World Tour was the "late tour" in support of the record. Surely Beyoncé wouldn't release an album while she's in the midst of a tour right? Wrong. We were hoodwinked and bamboozled. It's hard to believe this classic album is now a decade old.

Track listing:

• "Pretty Hurts" (4:17)
• "Haunted" (6:09)
• "Drunk in Love" featuring Jay-Z (5:23)
• "Blow" (5:09)
• "No Angel" (3:48)
• "Partition" (5:19)
• "Jealous" (3:04)
• "Rocket" (6:31)
• "Mine" featuring Drake (6:18)
• "XO" (3:35)
• "Flawless" (4:10)
• "Superpower" (4:36)
• "Heaven" (3:50)
• "Blue" featuring Blue Ivy (4:26)

• Released: April 23, 2016
• Singles: "Formation," "Sorry," "Hold Up," "Freedom," "All Night"

We didn't really get a heads up about Lemonade either. There was the release of "Formation" in February 2016, but it was right before her Super Bowl performance with Bruno Mars and Coldplay, so it was beginning to look like the release was more in line with that. Then it true Beyoncé style, we got the notification about the Lemonade film premiere that was going to be televised. It will be interesting down the line to see if Bey considers Lemonade to be her magnum opus, as the general consensus by many is that it is. Led the singles "Formation," "Sorry," "Hold Up," "Freedom," "All Night" and a chart-topper worldwide, Lemonade is revered not just as Beyoncé's best album to date, but one of the greatest albums of all time. Oh, and we can't forget that 2016 BET Awards performance with Kendrick Lamar.

Track listing:

• "Pray You Catch Me" (3:16)
• "Hold Up" (3:41)
• "Don't Hurt Yourself' featuring Jack White" (3:53)
• "Sorry" (3:52)
• "6 Inch: featuring The Weeknd (4:20)
• "Daddy Lessons" (4:48)
• "Love Drought" (3:57)
• "Sandcastles" (3:02)
• "Forward' featuring James Blake" (1:19)
• "Freedom" featuring Kendrick Lamar (4:49)
• "All Night" (5:22)
• "Formation" (3:26)
• "Sorry" (3:52)

• Released: July 19, 2019
• Singles: "Spirit," "Brown Skin Girl," "Black Paradee"

The Lion King: The Gift is a gem of a soundtrack album that actually ended up being something that helped get us through the early phases of the pandemic when Bey's film Black Is King was released a year later. Released on July 19, 2019 in support of Beyoncé's role as Nala in Disney's live action remake of The Lion King, The Gift is one of Bey's most comprehensive and in our opinion underrated works to date. Soundtrack albums don't always get the full critical acclaim and respect they deserve, and while The Gift is definitely recognized as great, I do believe decades from now we'll look back on the soundtrack and Black Is King and realize just how much of a true masterpiece it is.

Track listing:

• "Bigger" (3:46)
• "Find Your Way Back (Circle Of Life)" (2:42)
• "The Nile" featuring Kendrick Lamar (1:47)
• "Mood 4 Eva" featuring Jay-Z and Childish Gambino (4:32)
• "Water" featuring Salatiel and Pharrell (2:32)
• "Come Home" (0:14)
• "Brown Skin Girl" featuring St. Jhn, Wizkid and Blue Ivy (4:08)
• "Otherside" (3:19)
• "Already' featuring Shatta Wale" (3:42)
• "My Power" featuring Tierra Whack Busiswa, Yemi Alade and Moonchild Sanelly (4:19)
• "Spirit" (4:33)

• Released: July 29, 2022
• Singles: "Break My Soul," "Cuff It," "America Has a Problem," "Virgos Groove"

Bey said that we needed to dance and have fun after the trying events of these past couple of years, and that is exactly what we have been doing since the release of Renaissance in July 2022. We had the "Cuff It" challenge on TikTok, and the Renaissance Tour this past summer was a whole movement from the "look around everybody on mute challenge," to the disco/western dress code requirement that we all had to adhere to for our respective concert stops. Our only question left is...what do the other two acts hold in store for us?

Track listing:

• "I’m That Girl" (3:28)
• "Cozy" (3:30)
• "Alien Superstar" (3:35)
• "Cuff It" (3:45)
• "Energy" featuring Beam (1:56)
• "Break My Soul" (4:38)
• "Church Girl" (3:44)
• "Plastic Off The Sofa" (4:14)
• "Virgo’s Groove" (6:08)
• "Move featuring Grace Jones and Tems" (3:23)
• "Heated" (4:20)
• "Thique" (4:04)
• "All Up in Your Mind" (2:49)
• "America Has A Problem" (3:18)
• "Pure/Honey" (4:48)
• "Summer Renaissance" (4:34)

• Released: March 29, 2024
• Singles: "Texas! Hold 'Em," "16 Carriages"

Yee-haw! We've known for a while that Renaissance was going to be a three part of project, but we didn't know exactly what the second act was going to be. We now have our answer—well somewhat at least. After hinting in her Super Bowl Verizon ad that some new music was on the way, it was officially announced that Beyoncé will be releasing Renaissance: Act II on March 29, and by the looks of things we're going country. Not only did we get the surprise announcement, but Bey also dropped two singles, "Texas! Hold 'Em," "16 Carriages," that same night, making her the first Black woman to hit number one on Apple Music's Country Charts. Are we getting visuals this time around? Another tour? A Vegas residency in the Sphere. Time will only tell.