Beyoncé turned 45 on Friday, September 4, 2026, and marked the day by releasing a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of her second studio album, “B’Day.”
“B’Day” was first released in 2006 and became Beyoncé’s first visual album, paired with short films built around the arc of a relationship. The project centered on themes of confidence, liberation, and independence, and produced the singles “Green Light,” “Get Me Bodied,” and “Upgrade U.”
Speaking about the original recording process, Beyoncé said she wanted the album to carry a specific energy. “I wanted the album to be big, percussive, hard, up-tempo, and energized, and it was important to me that we used live instrumentation,” she said.
She also described the musical balance she was chasing at the time. “Hip-hop was taking over at the time, but I was fighting to preserve the bridges, melodies, and harmonies that have always been at the heart of R&B,” she said. “The goal was to blend those two worlds through the art of sampling. I loved the minimalism of a beautiful vocal arrangement over a simple drum loop or a classical guitar like ‘Irreplaceable’… but only if that 808 was banging underneath.”
For the anniversary release, Beyoncé returned to the original recordings and remastered the music. The accompanying videos, originally shot on 35mm film, were remastered and re-colored in 4K. Among them is “Déjà Vu,” featuring JAY-Z and directed by Sophie Muller, which was also released on September 4.
The deluxe edition includes two new collaborations: “Cuerpo Tumbao (Get Me Bodied)” with Maluma, and “Irreemplazable (Como La Flor),” a duet that combines Beyoncé’s Spanish-language version of “Irreplaceable” with Selena Quintanilla’s “Como La Flor.” The recording was approved by Selena’s estate, which has rarely granted permission to use her music since her death in 1995.
A spokesperson for the release described the pairing as a meeting of two artists from the same state. “Two women from Texas. Two unmistakable and irreplaceable voices that broke down and continue to break down barriers,” the spokesperson said.
The connection between the two singers dates back further than the new recording. Beyoncé has said she met Selena in person as a child, at The Galleria mall in Houston, when she was around 12 years old and not yet a public figure herself. “I did actually meet Selena in The Galleria mall in Houston,” Beyoncé recalled in an earlier MTV interview, adding that she recognized Selena and said hello before the two went their separate ways.
Beyoncé later said Selena’s music helped her with pronunciation when she recorded the original Spanish-language version of “Irreplaceable” in 2007, having grown up listening to Selena’s songs on the radio in Texas without understanding all of the words at the time.
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Beyoncé currently holds the record for the most awards in Grammy history, with 32 wins. Her catalog, from Destiny’s Child through Lemonade and Renaissance, has made her one of the defining voices in the American music industry. She is married to rapper and producer JAY-Z, and the couple has three children: Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir. The latter, who has already appeared alongside her mother on record and on stage.
