Beyoncé Returns to Texas Roots with Country Album, New Singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”

Beyoncé used her Super Bowl LVIII ad time to promote the second Act of her 2002 hit Renaissance, with the reveal of her new country album, out March 29, along with two new singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.”

In the videos, which were part of a commercial for Verizon starring Tony Hale, Beyoncé is tasked with trying to break the internet by getting “Saxy” and playing jazz, returning to her 2016 album Lemonade by serving the drink at an actual stand. In the ad, she also tries her BarBey persona, a play on Barbie, announces her run for president as BOTUS, and sits on top of the Sphere in Las Vegas, wearing a cowboy straddling a horse.

After attempting to be the first woman to launch the first rocket for the first performance in space she says “They won’t break me.” By the end of the first video, Beyoncé reveals the biggest hint of upcoming new music.

“OK, they ready,” said Beyoncé at the end of the video. “Drop the new music.”

Shortly after the Verizon ad played, Beyoncé’s Instagram page revealed the final teaser video. A crowd of people gather near a billboard in a dusty Texas town. At one point, Chuck Berry‘s 1955 classic “Maybelline” can be heard playing on the Radio Texas station, while Bey speeds by in a yellow taxi cab.

By the end, the album title, Renaissance Act II is revealed along with the release date, and a snippet of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” named after the poker game of her home state.

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Written by Beyoncé, Saadiq, Lowell, ​bülow, Nathan Ferraro, and Killah, “Texas Hold ‘Em” delivers some traditional guitar and bass-drum twang and fierce lyrics: And I’ll be damned if I cannot slow dance with you / Come pour some sugar on me, honey, too / It’s a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown / Don’t be a bitch, come take it to the floor now.

The other side of Act II highlights Beyoncé’s country ballad “16 Carriages,” and a more pensive storyline: Sixteen carriages drivin’ away / While I watch them ride with my dreams away / To the summer sunset on a holy night / On a long back road, all the tears I fight.

Both tracks were co-produced by Raphael Saadiq, who also worked Renaissance and with Beyoncé’s sister Solange, along with Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, John Legend, and more.

Renaissance Act II follows the release of Beyoncé’s No. 1 album Renaissance and world tour, which grossed $579 million, followed by the release of the accompanying concert film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé her house and trap-bent single”My House,” released December 2023.

Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy