Beyoncé’s Renaissance was a long time coming, but it was definitely worth the wait. After hitting the shelves late last month, this album became an instant sensation and easily soared to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, scoring the year’s biggest debut by a female artist.
Renaissance topped the charts in the U.S. with 332,000 equivalent album units earned during its first week on the chart. The only album to score a bigger debut this year was Harry Styles’ Harry’s House with 521,500 units earned in its first week.
This isn’t the only milestone set by Queen B’s latest studio effort. Renaissance is also the first album released in 2022 to debut atop the Billboard 200. It’s also Beyoncé’s seventh No. 1 album, making her the first artist to have all seven of their studio albums debut at No. 1.
Renaissance hit the shelves on July 29 and it’s expected to be the first part of a trilogy project. Beyoncé started working on it during the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted it to reflect her state of mind during difficult times.
“Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving,” she explained on Instagram.
