Beyoncé, who recently debuted two country-inspired songs from her upcoming album, is the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
The singer's banjo-driven track, “Texas Hold 'Em,” ranks at No. 1 and “16 Carriages” ranks at No. 9, the release said. She dropped the two songs shortly after announcing new music in a Verizon commercial that aired during the Super Bowl.
“The amount of airplay it got in its first week is pretty amazing and unprecedented,” said Jada Watson, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa who studies radio airplay and popularity charts. Since the late 1950s, only six black female solo artists, including the group Pointer Sisters, had made it onto the country charts. According to Watson, Linda Martell was the highest-charting black woman on the charts, ahead of Beyoncé, who reached No. 22 in 1969 with “Color Him Father.”
Beyoncé is also the first woman to top both Billboard's country and R&B/hip-hop charts since recording began in 1958, Billboard reported.
Fans were quick to applaud her enthusiasm for country music, with one writing on social media, “Bey says country, we go country!” As the Washington Post previously noted, while this isn't the first time the Houston native has appeared in her Performances and performances honored their roots in the country, but the new music highlighted the barriers black artists often faced in the genre.
Beyoncé's new country songs pay tribute to the genre's black cultural roots
With the onset of “Texas Hold 'Em” fever, many fans have embraced the fashion trend called “cowboycore,” donning various styles of cowboy hats and boots – metallic silver, snake-print, tasseled ones – and sharing videos of them dancing Hit Song. Beyoncé herself has been photographed wearing cowboy hats at public appearances and promotional shoots in recent weeks.
Beyoncé's two new country songs are part of her long-awaited album, due out March 29th. Fans saw the songs — and the genre change — as a sign that the body of work, dubbed “Act II,” will, for now, be a full-length country album.
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Although many have supported Beyoncé's new songs and transition into country, the move hasn't come without renewed criticism for the star, as his debut country song, “Daddy Lessons” (2016), revealed deep divisions in the country music industry.
Some country music fans argued that the song did not belong in that genre and was excluded from the country music categories at the Grammys.
Do you think Beyoncé “doesn’t belong at the CMAs”? Then you don't know the country.
Black people are largely excluded from country music – even though the art form is rooted in Black history.
In 2019, rapper Lil Nas X's country-inspired rap track “Old Town Road” was removed from Billboard's Hot Country Songs. While many considered it the song of the summer, country music's guardians were confused and outraged.
“While 'Old Town Road' contains references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not encompass enough elements of today's country music to chart in its current version,” Billboard wrote at the time, citing the decision Removing the song from the country chart “had absolutely nothing to do with the artist's race.”
“I think it's significant that it's 2024 and we're getting the first number one country song by a black woman,” Watson said. She noted that Beyoncé “has a huge audience and support.” [other] Black female artists haven’t been able to build in the same way because the industry hasn’t supported them.”
“The important next step is for Beyoncé to not just become a flash in the pan,” she said. “That the industry takes this as an opportunity to build for black women in this format.”
Janay Kingsberry, Praveena Somasundaram and Avi Selk contributed to this report.