Beyoncé Hints at First Single Off New Album During Live Performance [Video]

When Beyonce dropped her surprise self-titled album, she chose not to announce a breakthrough single. Instead, she let the 14 tracks run together as a single entity, not allowing one specific song to outshine the others. But by natural selection, fans choose their favorite songs, and now that the initial shock of the surprise has worn off, the frontrunner for the album’s first major single is apparent.

“XO” has taken the reigns as the first big hit off “Beyonce.” She even debuted the song at her Mrs. Carter Show tour stop in Chicago this past weekend, engaging in a call and response with the crowd. You can check out footage from the “XO” performance below.

It’s still baffling that Beyonce, one of the most revered pop singers of all time, kept the album a secret for so long, but in a recent interview with US Weekly, a source has shared several inside details regarding the mysterious release.

“Beyonce decided several months ago to release her album in this way but she didn't decide on this date until very recently, just a little bit ago," a source said, adding that she originally planned for a surprise January release date. "Now just felt right, especially on Friday the 13."

"She kept going back and forth about what to do," the source said. "She discussed it over and over again with Jay Z and her team and decided to just drop it this way. Only Beyonce could have done this!"

"Everyone agreed not to breathe a word or the plan would be ruined . . . One person leaking it would have destroyed the whole project. She wanted to reinvent the way we listened to albums. . . there was already so much interest in this project that it all built up perfectly."

And there you have it. Simple as that. Her entire team swore to secrecy and no one broke their promise. It just goes to show, once again, how much everyone loves Beyonce. It’s good to have her back.