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Will Beyoncé turn into a rock star for her upcoming album?
After Renaissance and Cowboy Carter, superstar Beyoncé may be working on a new rock album. Here are the clues that let us think that the American singer is venturing into a new aesthetic.
By Violaine Schütz.
Published on 12 August 2025. Updated on 13 November 2025.
A new rock album for Beyoncé?
If Cowboy Carter (2024) is still fresh in people’s minds thanks to the tour that followed the album’s release, some believe that Beyoncé could soon unveil a new record… The third opus of her trilogy that began with Renaissance in 2022. And this last chapter might just be a rock record.
There are several clues pointing to this new aesthetic. First, many of the visuals shown on the giant screens during the Cowboy Carter Tour depicted a very dark, sexy, and rock-inspired Beyoncé. Then, in August 2025, the superstar appeared in the latest video from her collaboration with Levi’s, titled The Denim Cowboy, riding a horse in a way that hinted at a sonic shift.
Merch with a metal edge
In this advert, which compiles all the campaign footage, the singer rides a horse – a nod to the universe of Cowboy Carter – wearing a cowboy hat in front of a laundromat filled with diamonds, as a reference to the disco aesthetic of Renaissance. She is working in a diner and playing pool in a bar. But what really catches our attention is the final scene. Beyoncé rides away into the night on a motorcycle, sporting a short curly haircut and a denim jacket embellished with rhinestones.
Following this ad, Beyoncé’s official website released a holiday merch line that’s anything but trivial in November 2025. The typeface used on mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and caps could easily represent a heavy metal band.
Clues of a new era hidden in a Levi’s ad
Is this wild getaway heralding a new era? It’s entirely possible. Since the release of her album Renaissance (2022), the superstar has made it her mission to revisit musical styles. And, above all, to remind everyone how deeply they were shaped by Black musicians at their origins. If Renaissance explored house and disco music, Cowboy Carter (2024) leaned toward country and Americana.
If Act III of Renaissance turns out to flirt with rock, it wouldn’t be Beyoncé’s first foray into the genre. Lemonade (2016) was a feminist and political album blending rock, pop, and R&B, while embracing experimentation.
Regarding the themes, the singer tackled racism and Jay-Z’s infidelity, sparking countless reactions online. On the track Don’t Hurt Yourself, she revealed her most abrasive musical side, teaming up with Jack White and sampling Led Zeppelin. And that sound fit her like a (black leather) glove.
Beyoncé’s new album has no release date yet.
