Summary
- Beyoncé blazed a new trail with country twang on her groundbreaking Cowboy Carter album.
- Despite backlash, album sales soared, earning Beyoncé her eighth No. 1 on Billboard.
- Beyoncé also honored country legends, sparking both praise and controversy.
It looks like Beyoncé's rallyin’ in billboard success after becoming the first black woman to have a country album hit #1 on the charts. One of the debut singles from her album Cowboy Carter even shot to the top of the Billboards Hot Country Songs chart.
The single was released just one month before Cowboy Carter's worldwide debut, making "Texas Hold 'Em" the most-added song on country radio according to Rolling Stone. The queen has always tried to give her fans a new and different side of herself, and her versatile discography shows that she rarely shies away from any music genre. Cowboy Carter is the second part of a trilogy project Beyoncé has been teasing since the release of her 2022 disco/house album Renaissance, and it turned out to be quite lucrative for Bey, despite the backlash.
Beyoncé's Country Music Trended, But For All The Wrong Reasons
Beyoncé's country songs were catchy, but many complained about her new album
This long stream of accomplishments has reluctantly come with some discourse over whether the former Destiny’s Child singer is a valid country singer.
However, her "country" album wasn’t Beyoncé’s first run-in with country music fans, after she previously angered fans in a 2016 performance with the Dixie Chicks. The singer caused an uproar after performing with the band at the Country Music Awards. Many viewers detailed the performance as a disgrace and said she "wasn’t welcome" there.
In an Instagram post released on her account, Beyoncé reflected on her time creating Cowboy Carter.
“This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” she wrote in a March 19 Instagram post.
It seems as well that the queen took a valuable lesson from the incident, by sharing how it inspired her to immerse herself even further into the genre.
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she added. “Act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
Some Country Fans Weren't Thrilled, But Beyoncé Still Earned Support
Bey's "country" album features country legend Dolly Parton, and pop sensations like Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, and many more
We can all agree that Bey is known for her iconic collabs, with her 2009 duet with Lady Gaga, "Telephone," becoming one of the most infamous songs of all time.
Beyoncé's country twang was so powerful that even musical legends like Nancy Sinatra and Dolly Parton were honored in one of the tracks, "Ya Ya." In a post directly from Sinatra's X account, she shared:
“To have a little piece of one of my records in a @Beyonce song is very meaningful to me because I love her,” Sinatra wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “She represents what is great about today’s music, and I’m delighted to be a tiny part of it.”
Parton, on the other hand, was both featured and honored on the 27th tracklist. "Dolly P," an interlude and ode to the country legend, with Parton referencing Jolene as "that hussy with the good hair." The queen also found ways to unarchive iconic classics like "Jolene" — with her own Bey spin on it, of course.
Bey seemed to take a less-than-calm approach to her message to Jolene, her version beginning with "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. I'm warning you, don't come for my man." While both versions share different states of emotion, Bey's presents an angry and thrilling new side to this classic hit.
Despite the songstress's successes in the country arena, Beyoncé's most popular Spotify songs are still classics like "Halo" and "Crazy in Love."
Despite Controversy, Cowboy Carter Sold 400K Units
Though critics and listeners dragged the album, Cowboy Carter sales were impressive
According to Billboard, Bey’s Cowboy Carter earned 407,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., giving the singer her eighth No. 1 on the long-running chart. 232,000 of the 407,000 units came from streams, 168,000 from traditional album sales, and 7,000 from track equivalent albums.
"Texas Hold 'Em" also marked Bey's most successful month ever on TouchTunes, a jukebox app where patrons pay to hear songs in restaurants and bars. There's no word on what cut Beyoncé might receive, but it's clear her "country" music is catchy and earns a return.
Bey and Jay's combined net worth exploded during the pandemic, so it's not as if the Queen needed to release another mega-earning album.
With all the latest buzz about this album, it's not a surprise yet again that Beyoncé is making headlines and being iconic as usual. While fans are thrilled over the content they've been fed, the beehive can't help but wonder if a new tour announcement is in the works.
The Renaissance Tour, grossed 579 million, making it the highest-grossing tour by a female artist. With Renaissance being her ninth world tour, there was no doubt Beyoncé is cooking up something special for fans all over the world.
