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Beyoncé lands first solo top 10 single in 6 years with 'Break My Soul'

Beyoncé lands first solo top 10 single in 6 years with 'Break My Soul'

"Break My Soul" is already igniting a renaissance for Beyoncé on the American charts.

The pop icon's new song has become her 20th career top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 — and her first as a solo artist since 2016's "Formation" — as it rises from No. 15 to No. 7 on the publication's latest ranking of the most popular songs in the country.

Released as the lead single from her upcoming album Renaissance, "Break My Soul" fuses house-inspired dance beats with Beyoncé's soaring vocals for a radical sonic departure from her last collection of original material, 2019's The Gift, a companion album to Disney's Lion King remake.

Though she hasn't reached the top 10 in the United States as a solo act since "Formation," Beyoncé has since scaled the chart via collaborations with other popular artists. Her 2017 "Perfect Duet" with Ed Sheeran reached No. 1, as did her 2020 remix of Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage," while she narrowly missed out on the top spot on J Balvin and Willy William's "Mi Gente" remix, which peaked at No. 3 five years ago.

"Break My Soul" arrived in June as the first preview of Beyoncé's seventh solo studio album — the cover for which sees the artist posing nearly nude atop a digitized horse.

Many interpreted the Renaissance album cover as both a reference to the historical Lady Godiva — who rode a horse nude in opposition to taxation — and the night Bianca Jagger famously climbed atop a horse at the Studio 54 nightclub in 1977.

Beyonce Performs
Beyonce Performs

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Beyoncé performing at Global Citizen Festival.

"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. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom," Beyoncé wrote of the album on Instagram. "It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are."

Renaissance drops on July 29.

Hear more on all of today's must-see picks on EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

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