Beyonce's surprise release of new album excites fans

Fans embrace new album across twitter

Beyonce pays tribute to Paul Walker at LA concert

Nelson Mandela and his friends in showbiz

Beyonce kicked off 2013 by performing at President Barack Obama's second inauguration in January, headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in February, and embarked on "The Mrs. Carter Show" tour in April, performing more than 100 shows across the world.

The manner of the new album's sudden release generated plenty of reaction from fans, including fellow musicians, on Twitter. The album release generated more than 1.2 million tweets in 12 hours, Twitter said on Friday, with a spike of 5,300 tweets a minute.

"How is anyone not tweeting about #Beyonce right now?!!" singer Demi Lovato said on the microblogging site, while rapper Snoop Dogg tweeted, "my girl @beyonce just changed d game !!"

Twitter said "Blue" was the most tweeted-about song.

Texas-born Beyonce Knowles is one of the most successful performers in the world, regularly selling out concert tours. The singer, who began her career as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, has become a solo artist powerhouse, famed for her energetic stage shows, hit songs including "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and her promotion of female empowerment.

Beyonce and Jay Z were named the highest-earning celebrity couple for the second consecutive year in September by Forbes magazine, with estimated combined earnings of $95 million for the year up to June 2013.

For more coverages on Beyonce, click here