Did you know Beyonce dropped an entire album that surprised her fans in 2013?

Beyonce is one of the worlds most successful artists as she has sold over 118 million records worldwide. She is also the most nominated woman artists at the Grammys winning 24 awards in her career spanning more than two decades. From her starting point with her girl group Destiny's Child to her current Black Is King visual album, Beyonce has become an iconic pop sensation. While many of her albums have received critical and commercial success, Beyonce started a trend that was followed suit by other artists. Remember the time when Beyonce dropped her entire self titled eponymous album in 2013 for her fans? Read below to find out which was that album that surprised Queen Bey fans.

Beyonce surprises fans with self-titled album in 2013

On December 13, 2013, Beyonce had dropped her fifth solo studio album titled Beyonce digitally on the iTunes Store without any prior announcement or promotion. She announced on Instagram close to midnight that “Surprise!” her new “visual album” was currently on iTunes, and then went right back to posting vegan meals. The album became an immediate success with 617,000 copies in the United States and 828,773 copies worldwide in its first three days of sales, becoming the fastest-selling album in the history of the iTunes Store during the time. The album also debuted on number one on the US Billboard 200, earning Beyoncé her fifth consecutive number-one album on the chart. Here's a flashback to her announcement that made fans go crazy.

Beyonce's method of dropping the album was emulated by several artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West and Taylor Swift among others. According to music critic Banksy, he noted that releasing the album on social media was a "genius move", which catered to Beyonce's huge number of followers across all social media accounts. At the time, she had eight million followers on Instagram alone, and her fans spread the word across their social media pages and got more tune-ins for the album. He also revealed that less established but popular artists would actually need to organically promote their songs like receiving radio spots, a solid music video to go along with and social media buzz to add. Beyonce meanwhile, only needed a 15-second video on Instagram, which only goes to show her influence in the music industry.

The album was ranked in many music publications Top album list, including Rolling Stones placing it 81st on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Some of her acclaimed songs in the album include Pretty Hurts, Drunk In Love (featuring Jay-Z), Jealous, Rocket, XO, Superpower, Heaven. Here's a look at the visual album Beyonce shared of her self titled album back in 2013.