Irreplaceable: Thieves break into car and steal unreleased Beyoncé music

Beyoncé has become the latest pop star to report a theft. It occurred during one of the Atlanta dates of her current Cowboy Carter tour when someone broke into a vehicle and pilfered jump drives that contained footage for future shows, past and future setlists and - most worryingly - unreleased music.

The robbery occurred last Tuesday (July 8) just before the star’s four-night run at the Mercedes Benz stadium. It was first reported by Atlanta’s Channel 2 – a spokesperson for Atlanta police told the station that the break in occurred at a parking garage at Krog Street market in town.

According to the police report, Christopher Grant, a choreographer, and Diandre Blue, one of Beyoncé’s dancers said that they parked a black rental inside the garage but when they returned to it later they saw that the window had been damaged and two suitcases had been stolen.

Aside from the unreleased recordings, Grant and Blue also reported that clothes, designer sunglasses, laptops and a pair of headphones were stolen from the vehicle.

It’s a blow for any artist to have unreleased material stolen, but more so for Beyoncé whose last few albums have been ‘surprise’ releases, timed to maximise exposure and fan engagement.

Since her self-titled album in 2013 every release has been conducted this way, with recording done with the strictest of security – collaborators and songwriters often have no idea whether their contributions have made the final cut until the album is unleashed on the general public.

She’s the latest artist to become a victim of what is shaping up to be a mini musical crimewave. Earlier this summer Heart had a custom-built Telecaster and mandolin swiped from the stage where they were due to perform in Atlantic City. Those, fortunately, were later recovered. Not so in the case of the dance duo the Menendez Brothers who had a record bag with USBs containing unreleased music pinched in plain sight while they were DJing at Fabric.

In the case of Beyoncé there’s no news yet on any leads regarding the missing jump drives. Representatives for the singer have not responded to requests for comment.