What is Beyoncé announcing in January? Fans think they’ve figured out her big reveal
Beyoncé has a big announcement coming on 14 January 2025. (Getty)
The past three years have belonged, indisputably, to Beyoncé. 2022 gave us Renaissance, her first studio album in six years and queerest yet, while the record-breaking Renaissance World Tour and documentary film followed in 2023.
This year saw the Grammy Award-guzzling music giant tackle country music in a way only Beyoncé could with Cowboy Carter. It’s the second in her album trilogy, which has and will continue to consume, warp and reinvigorate a multitude of genres. Then, on Christmas Day, when Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Gavin and Stacey had been and gone, Beyoncé arrived with the main event: Netflix’s Beyoncé Bowl.
Even the hungriest members of the BeyHive would’ve forgiven Yonce if she fancied a year of rest and relaxation in 2025. But the superstar has confirmed that won’t be the case, and she’ll keep sweet honey buckin’ well into the new year. Posting a short clip of her riding her trusty Cowboy Carter steed, Chardonneigh, Beyoncé has confirmed that something is coming on 14 January, 2025.
What, however, remains to be seen. Yet her fans certainly have a theory or two about what Queen B will be bringing for the Hive in 2025. Let’s break down what’s potentially coming around corner.
Act III in Beyoncé’s album trilogy
It’s hard to argue with fervent fan @thesoftestbunny_ on TikTok who has explained, in extensive detail, why the 14 January announcement will be related to the third act in Beyoncé’s album trilogy.
The fan points out that, in Beyoncé’s video announcing the announcement (yes, this is the reality of pop music fandom today), she waves the American flag up and over her head, before bringing it down behind her horse. In rodeo terms, bringing a flag down to the ground typically signifies the end of a run. Hence, Beyoncé lowering her flag could suggest the end of the Cowboy Carter era in its totality.
Similarly, the fan notes that Beyoncé’s video sees her largely in the dark, seemingly lit by a single spotlight, potentially portraying a curtain-closing “Show’s Over” motif.
The TikTok user went on to state that they believe Bey’s next album will be a rock album, suggesting that the font used to display the date “1.14.25” on her video imitated fonts used by heavy metal and rock bands.
Following on from the disco of Renaissance and country roots of Cowboy Carter, a rock album would make sense, as all three genres were pioneered by Black music artists, and Beyoncé is keen to ensure that’s remembered.
Cowboy Carter world tour
As Renaissance came accompanied by the Renaissance World Tour, many fans expected that a Cowboy Carter tour would be revealed at some point this year. Sadly, despite a slew of rumours, it never materialised.
However, fans are holding onto the hope that Beyoncé’s mysterious announcement could well be a tour. In addition to it being a fairly logical theory, fans had their hopes bolstered when ticket company Live Nation reposted her teaser on its social media pages.
LIVE NATION POSTED IT IT’S LITERALLY A TOUR OMFG😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/fOT5KIUaX6 pic.twitter.com/wABBA6WwVT
— 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆🫧💚 (@beyoncegarden) December 25, 2024
The hype only increased when the BeyHive realised that a URL titled bettyblacktour.com redirected to Beyoncé’s main website. Hopes were dashed fairly swiftly though, when it was revealed that a fan had purchased the URL and purposefully linked it back to Beyonce.com to add to the buzz.
The Betty Black Tour theory still holds some weight, though: during the Renaissance era, one promotional video included a newspaper clipping featuring the headline “The Betty Black Tour”, noting that more details could be found on “page 14”.
THE BETTY BLACK TOUR
— THUGGA ² (@THGGABEY) September 9, 2023
SOLD OUT. pic.twitter.com/tQ6Jufe8Qt
Fans are assuming that page 14 could link to 14 January, with The Betty Black Tour being the big Beyoncé announcement. Whether the possible tour would be linked to Cowboy Carter or a new, Betty Black-themed album, is uncertain.
“Betty Black” could also be linked to late rock icon Betty Davis, who Beyoncé paid tribute to back in October for Halloween, or to the song “Black Betty”, which originated as a song sung by Black workers in the 20th century, before being made into a rock song by band Ram Jam in 1977.
The long-awaited Renaissance and Cowboy Carter visuals
It’s an age-old request from the BeyHive, this one: Beyoncé, please, drop the visuals.
Despite her previous two albums – 2013’s self-titled surprise release and 2016’s Lemonade – arriving accompanied by a string of music videos, neither Renaissance and Cowboy Carter have had a single music video between them (no, the recent “Bodyguard” clip doesn’t count). Fans are hoping then that she could be about to finally drop some visuals.
Yet that hope seems unlikely to come to fruition. During a rare interview with GQ back in September, the superstar confirmed that she wanted her fans to “focus on the voice”.
“I thought it was important that during a time where all we see is visuals, that the world can focus on the voice,” she shared.
“The music is so rich in history and instrumentation. It takes months to digest, research and understand. The music needed space to breathe on its own.
“Sometimes a visual can be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music. The years of hard work and detail put into an album that takes over four years! The music is enough. The fans from all over the world became the visual. We all got the visual on tour. We then got more visuals from my film.”
It seems highly unlikely that a star of Beyoncé’s stature would go back on her word just four months later.
Whatever the announcement on 14 January turns out to be, we’ll be ready and waiting, donning our best cowboy boots. Or Doc Martens. Or mirrorball stilettos. Whatever the occasion warrants.
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