Americans marking the Fourth of July on Saturday were greeted with a major surprise: Beyoncé had released new music.
The global superstar unveiled a new single, “Morning Dew (Donk),” marking her first release since her 2024 album, “Act II: Cowboy Carter.”
According to a press release, the track “starts a 60-day countdown to her next birthday, and the re-issue of B’DAY, her ground-breaking second album that was released two decades ago on September 4, 2006.”
Beyoncé’s devoted fanbase, known as the Beyhive, has been watching closely for signs of her long-rumored “Act III” project. Many fans have speculated it could be a tribute to rock music, following the genre-focused approach of 2022’s “Act I: Renaissance,” which celebrated disco, club, house and funk, and 2024’s “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” which honored country, Southern music and her Texas roots.
Beyoncé has offered several clues that have only fueled those theories.
For Halloween 2024, she dressed as rock and funk trailblazer Betty Davis. She also appeared in Levi’s “Denim Cowboy” campaign last year, which concluded with her riding away on a motorcycle. In April, she shared a set of photos showing herself dressed in purple, which many fans interpreted as a reference to Prince, the late rock icon who died in April 2016.
“Morning Dew (Donk)” is likely to intensify the speculation. In the song’s opening lines, Beyoncé references Prince’s landmark 1984 film “Purple Rain,” which also produced a hit single and soundtrack of the same name.
The new track was written by Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, The-Dream and Darius Dixon, and produced by Beyoncé and Williams. It is set to appear on the 20th anniversary edition of “B’Day.”
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