Coming off of the monumental success of the Renaissance tour and accompanying concert movie, Beyonce has begun her next highly anticipated era. “Act II” is the follow-up to the house-inspired, Renaissance, album released back in 2022. Initially announced as a three-part project upon the release of the first part, the Beyhive hasn’t stopped clamoring for the rest.

Seeds of her country era were planted in 2021 when Beyonce came out with an Ivy Park collection that pulled from Texas roots with a Rodeo theme. At the time of the launch, she talked about how she wanted to shine a light on the often neglected history of the American black cowboy.

Cut to a new era that was fully teased at the 2024 Grammy Awards on February 4th when Beyonce showed up in a full Louis Vuitton cowboy look that was a part of the Pharrell Williams-designed menswear collection that went full wild west. This stark contrast from the glitz and glamour of the first act made fans buzz with excitement. It’s not every day we see Beyonce in a cowboy hat and the internet could not stop talking about this drastic style change.

As rumors of this style shift swirled, a week later at the now legendary and most viewed Super Bowl game where she made a massive impact. While everyone was focused on Taylor Swift and Usher, Beyonce stuck when least expected. In a teased Verizon Super Bowl ad that featured the music superstar attempting to break the internet with scenarios more audacious than the next, she finally announced she was dropping new music.

Fans didn’t have to wait long after the ad aired as two singles, “Texas Hold Em’” and “16 Carriages” were released minutes later. She also posted a minute-long visual teaser to “Texas Hold Em’” and ended with the release date. The two singles feature drastically different sounds with “Texas Hold Em’” being more upbeat and catchy than the beautiful ballad that “16 Carriages” delivered. The two lead singles are an indicator that Beyonce will deliver a robust country album that explores the rich history of and different approaches to the genre.

The twists and turns kept coming as Beyonce sat front row at the Luar fashion show this past NYFW. A Beyonce appearance is a rare and blessed sighting nowadays so her surprise arrival to a smaller brand’s show sent shockwaves through social media. The singer watched as her model nephew, Daniel “Julez” Smith Jr, walked the runway, remaining consistent to the chic country theme, donning a gray cowboy hat and bedazzled suit, solidifying her commitment to this new era.

Beyonce continues to feed us cowgirl-approved looks on Instagram regularly to satiate the Beyhive’s appetite and tease the new album. These looks all consist of the sexy and fashionable style we know and love but with a cowboy hat and an occasional bolo tie to keep the theme. The overall look for this era is going to be quite different from what fans saw with the futuristic and metallic style Beyonce curated with “Act I.”

And on March 19th, we finally got the album cover reveal and it’s everything we hoped for and more. Officially titled, Cowboy Carter, “Act II”‘s name was first revealed on March 12th with an image of a saddle bearing a sash. After a week of rumors and anticipation, the official album cover was unveiled and featured Beyonce on a horse mirroring Renaissance’s cover art. The gorgeous image fully embraces the Western and Americana style of the country genre and sets the tone for this new era.

Act II, Cowboy Carter, releases on March 29th and we will be anxiously awaiting the new album (and the visuals if we’re lucky) in the weeks to come.