B'Day is the second studio album by Beyoncé, released on her 25th birthday, September 4th, 2006. The album was originally planned to be released in 2004 to follow-up her debut album Dangerously in Love (2003). However, the project was put on hiatus due to the recording of Destiny's Child's final studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, and her role in the film Dreamgirls.
Background[]
In late 2005, Beyoncé postponed the recording of her second studio album because she had landed the lead role in Dreamgirls, a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. She wanted to focus on one project at a time. Beyoncé decided to wait until the film was completed before returning to the recording studio.
The album was scheduled to be completed in six weeks, but was instead a three-week period. During early-to-mid 2006, Beyoncé enlisted Rich Harrison, Rodney Jerkins, Sean Garrett, Cameron Wallace, the Neptunes, Stargate, and Swizz Beatz as producers. She booked a room for Jerkins, Garrett and Harrison each at Sony Music Studios in New York City. At times, Beyoncé and her team would spend up to 14 hours a day in the studios.