Entertainment
There's No Excuse To Miss Beyoncé's 'Lemonade'
If you asked the average person about Lemonade, they might simply answer that it's a refreshing drink. But, to Beyoncé fans, Lemonade is a mysterious world premiere event happening on HBO on April 23 at 9 p.m. ET. It seems the special will be exclusively available on the premium cable network and its streaming services, HBO GO and HBO NOW, but can you watch Beyonce's Lemonade without HBO? Usually, if we were talking about watching Lemonade live, the answer would be a hard no. But thanks to a special circumstance, I have great news.
Update 2: As of April 26, Lemonade is no longer available on HBO Go.
Update: For those who don't have Tidal or HBO Go, Beyonce's Lemonade was made available for purchase on iTunes on Monday, April 25 in both its Explicit and Clean forms. The download includes the entire Lemonade special, though not the individual music videos, which fans will have to watch the special in order to see.
Earlier: HBO announced on its Medium page that it will be having a free preview weekend from Friday, April 22 to Monday, April 25, allowing anyone to watch its programming (though there is no mention of this preview applying to HBO GO or HBO NOW). So if you don't have HBO but want to watch Lemonade, this is your lucky weekend. And if you're busy Saturday night, HBO will also air an encore of Lemonade on Sunday night at 8 p.m., while the free preview weekend is still going, so you have two chances to catch it, even if you're not a subscriber.
Now, let's talk about what exactly Lemonade could be. Some have wondered if Lemonade is Beyoncé's new album, which we all know is coming but doesn't have a release date yet. Or, Lemonade could be some kind of teaser for The World Formation tour kicking off the following Wednesday, April 27. However, other sources claim Lemonade is a "lengthy concept video," which would make sense considering the one-minute trailer. It features plenty of cool shots of Beyoncé in various locations with interesting conceptual shots spliced in between. Still, it seems we'll have to wait until April 23 for the Lemonade premiere to find out exactly what it is.
As Beyoncé fans know, the Queen of Pop is a fan of mystery and surprises, which she demonstrated when she unexpectedly dropped her self-titled album in the middle of the night in 2013, and again earlier this year when she released the "Formation" single and music video the day before her Super Bowl 50 performance. Of course, letting us know that Lemonade will premiere on HBO takes a bit of the surprise out of the event, but it does make sure we're watching. However, if you're unable to watch during the HBO preview weekend and don't subscribe to the premium network, depending on what Lemonade is, it could be available elsewhere after the fact.
For instance, the Lemonade teaser and trailer are both available on the Beyoncé and HBO YouTube channels. So, if Lemonade does turn out to be a concept video, it may be uploaded to YouTube after it premieres. Or, if the HBO special turns out to be clips from multiple videos in Beyoncé's newest album, the Queen of Pop may upload some of them to her Instagram account — like she did the Lemonade teaser. Plus, HBO content is typically available to purchase on Amazon and iTunes after it airs, so that's another option if you miss it this weekend, though you may need to wait. Basically, there may be many ways in which to watch Lemonade after it premieres.
Of course, with all the mystery around Lemonade, there's only so much to go on. Right now, all we know for sure is that it will be available to watch live on HBO for everyone this weekend, likely on HBO GO and HBO NOW for subscribers, and probably available for purchase elsewhere sometime following the event. Basically, there's no excuse to miss Lemonade, HBO and Beyoncé have madé it very accessible to the whole Beyhive.
