Beyoncé hails from Texas, a state known for producing country music legends such as herself.
Pop music icon Beyoncé has added country music icon to her certain Rock & Roll Hall of Fame career.
Although many country music fans have an issue with the Houston native venturing off into the country music scene, the “Beyhive” has responded positively to her latest album “Cowboy Carter,” which also has given a huge platform to modern Black country artists.
Keith Caulfield of Billboard reported, “Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter gallops in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums charted (dated April 13), debuting with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 4, according to Luminate. It’s the superstar’s eighth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200…
“Cowboy Carter also launches at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts. She’s the first Black woman ever to have led the Top Country Albums list, dating to its January 1964 inception. Cowboy Carter also claims the biggest week for a country album, by units earned, since last July when Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), opened at No.1 on the July 22, 2023 chart with 716,000 units.”
Furthermore, Beyoncé’s single “Texas Hold ‘Em” reached number one on the country charts, while the single “16 Carriages” reached number nine on the country charts.
Both singles were released during the Super Bowl hoopla in February.
Reportedly, Beyoncé did not feel welcomed at a past Country Music Awards.
As a result, she set out to produce a record that showed her country roots as a Texas native, while also giving props to the influence that past Black country artists and Black cowboys have had on the movement.
The former Destiny’s Child lead singer also covered classic songs by The Beatles (“Blackbird”) and Dolly Parton (“Jolene”), receiving praise from Paul McCartney and Parton.
On the social media platform X, McCartney wrote, “I am so happy with @beyonce’s version of my song ‘Blackbird.’ I think she does a magnificent version of it and reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place. I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it.
“I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it. I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song. When I saw the footage on television in the early 60s of the Black girls being turned away from the school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now. Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tensions would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”
The new country music sensation used the master recording of the original guitar and foot tapping background part for her version, which gives McCartney a co-producing credit.
And although she changed some of the lyrics to “Jolene,” she credited Parton as the sole writer of her version so that publishing royalties will go to the country music legend.
On social media, Parton said, “Wow I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!”
Parton and Beyoncé seem to have a lot in common recently, with the former receiving flak for her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Parton responded with the release of an album of rock music covers.
Parton’s “Rock Star” album featured Sting, Steve Perry, Steven Tyler, Pat Benatar and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The “Cowboy Carter” album also boasts features from Parton, Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and Linda Martell the first Black woman to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.
In the 1960s, Martell faced racial resistance when she attempted to crossover from soul and R&B music to the country genre.
Martell faced heckling and even blackballing for her attempt to release country music.
Other Black artists featured on “Cowboy Carter” include Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Willie Jones, Shaboozey and Rumi Carter.
Rania Aniftos of Billboard reported, “To celebrate the talented Black artists that contributed to Cowboy Carter, Spotify launched a billboard in Los Angeles [last] week, noting that each of the featured artists received an impressive bump in streams and visibility on the streaming platform since the album’s release.”
Queen Bey’s music streams on Spotify increased 395 percent since the release of “Cowboy Carter” on March 29.
Spencer saw a 37,200 percent increase in streams on Spotify.
Reynolds got a 16,000 percent increase on Spotify.
Adell’s streaming increased 3,200 percent on Spotify.
Kennedy got a 40,000 percent bump in music streams on Spotify.
Shaboozey received an increase of 1,350 percent on Spotify.
And Martell received an increase of approximately 127,430 percent on Spotify.
Maybe more importantly, all the artists got a bump in first-time listeners.
Beyoncé received a first-time listener bump of 85 percent.
Spencer got a 170 percent increase in first-time listeners.
Reynolds received a 125 percent increase.
Adell got a 125-percent increase in first-time listeners.
Kennedy got a 100 percent first-time listener increase.
Jones saw a 75 percent increase.
Shaboozey received a 70 percent increase.
And Martell saw an increase of 1,145 percent in first-time listeners.
