Why Beyoncé may finally lasso Album of the Year Grammy with ‘Cowboy Carter’

Over the past few days we’ve seen some of the ugliest side effects of fans’ devotion to Taylor Swift. Paste magazine literally kept its music critic’s name secret because they were afraid of the danger the poor person might be in for trashing her new album. They didn’t think The Tortured Poets Department was good, now they have to be protected like a juror from Trump’s scary followers? That’s awful.

Beyoncé is making history, landing at the top of the music charts after launching Cowboy Carter, her first country music album.

“Texas Hold ’Em” singer made a last-minute pitch to country upstart Willie Jones to appear on her new “Cowboy Carter” opus — with the album deadline fast approaching to make her March 29 release date — it was either go big or stay home.“It was literally in the fourth quarter,” Jones, 29, told The Post of recording his “Just for Fun” duet with Beyoncé in the final stages of “Cowboy Carter.” “It was literally … end of February, February 20-something.”Jones got the call that would change his life from Alex Vickery, who produced his vocals on “Just for Fun” — which, despite its title, is a decidedly moody meditation.“She’s like, ‘Are you sitting down?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And she’s like, ‘You know Beyoncé is working on a country album … [and] she loves your voice.’ I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ She was like, ‘Can you come out here tomorrow?’ I was like, ‘Send the car.’ ”And now the Shreveport, Louisiana native is galloping into history as one of the Black country artists spotlighted by Beyoncé Knowles Carter on “Cowboy Carter” — the undisputed event record of 2024 — which just scored the biggest sales week of the year in its chart-topping debut on the Billboard 200. Released to rave reviews (including mine), the LP also made Queen B the first Black woman to reign over the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, while simultaneously holding the top three spots on the Hot Country Songs chart led by her No.

Azealia Banks has responded to Lily Allen‘s recent criticism of Beyoncé‘s new album ‘Cowboy Carter‘, accusing the singer of past racist comments while telling her to “sit this one out”.Allen made headlines last week after she described Beyoncé’s reimagined cover of Dolly Parton‘s ‘Jolene’ on the album as “weird”.Speaking on her Miss Me? podcast, she said: “It’s very weird, that you’d cover the most successful songs in that genre. It’s quite an interesting to do, when you’re trying to, like, tackle a genre and you just choose the biggest song in that genre to cover.“I mean, you do you, Beyoncé, and she literally is doing her.

Michelle Obama recently took to Instagram to express her admiration for music icon Beyoncé, hailing her as a “record-breaker and history-maker.” Obama’s words of praise came in response to Beyoncé’s latest album, “Cowboy Carter,” the eighth studio release from the multi-Grammy-winning artist, which also forms Act II of her renowned “Renaissance” album.In her Instagram statement, Obama lauded Beyoncé‘s profound impact on music: “With Cowboy Carter, you have changed the game once again by helping redefine a music genre and transform our culture. I am so proud of you!”Moreover, Obama highlighted the significance of Beyoncé‘s latest release.

Jon Batiste has praised Beyonce for “dismantling genres” with her new album ‘Cowboy Carter’.‘Cowboy Carter’ was released on Friday (March 29), her eighth studio album and the second in an expected trilogy that began with 2022’s ‘Renaissance’. Batiste wrote and produced the track ‘Ameriican Requiem’ on the album, which also features guest appearances from country veteran Willie Nelson, as well as Willie Jones, Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, Shaboozey and Tanner Adele.In a new post on X/Twitter, Batiste lauded Beyoncé’s talents and thanked her for allowing him to be a part of the album, as well as pointing to the way he hopes her music will pave for a more genre-fluid future.“This is the moment yall, where we dismantle the genre machine,” he said.

Beyoncé‘s entry album into the country music genre, Cowboy Carter, was released on March 29, and it’s already shattering records on streaming platforms.

Beyoncé fans have complained that their vinyl issues of the new album ‘Cowboy Carter’ are missing five songs from their track listing. ‘Cowboy Carter’ was released on Friday (March 29), her eighth studio album and the second in an expected trilogy that began with 2022’s ‘Renaissance’. But, as reported by the BBC, the songs ‘Ya Ya’, ‘Spaghetti’, ‘Flamenco’, ‘The Linda Martell Show’ and ‘Oh Louisiana’ are said to be absent from the vinyl copies of the album.

Beyoncé’s new country album ‘Cowboy Carter’ in a statement.Carlene Carter, a successful country singer-songwriter herself, questioned why the singer was experiencing such backlash for her foray into country on her eighth album, which came out on Friday (March 29) and praised her ambition.“I’ve caught wind of some negativity over the release of Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’, her new country album,” Carter’s statement began [via MusicNews].“As a Carter Girl myself and coming from a long line of Carter Girls, I’m moved to ask why anyone would treat a Carter this way?” she questioned.“She is an incredibly talented and creative woman who obviously wanted to do this because she likes country music. In my book, she’s one of us Carter women and we have always pushed the boundaries by trying whatever music we felt in our hearts and taking spirit-driven risks.

Dolly Parton has responded to Beyoncé‘s cover of ‘Jolene’ on Queen Bey’s new album ‘Cowboy Carter’.The star dropped her new LP earlier today (March 29), which was reported to include a cover of Parton’s iconic hit. However, fans have discovered Beyoncé has actually rewritten ‘Jolene’ and its lyrics to address Jay-Z cheating on her.‘Jolene’ now refers to someone trying to “come between a family and a happy man”, with Beyoncé singing in the chorus: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man / Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / Don’t take the chance because you think you can”.Beyoncé’s ‘Jolene’ cover also sees her reaffirm her love with her husband, with whom she tied the knot in 2008, after having dated since roughly 2002: “We’ve been deep in love for twenty years / I raised that man, I raised his kids / I know my man better than he knows himself,” she sings.A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)In the original song, Parton said she “can’t compete” with ‘Jolene’.

Cowboy Carter,” is a protest against the Nashville establishment after previously being treated poorly.“This is her life, this has been her life: You tell Bey she can’t do something, she does it,” a source close to the singer told The Post. “If you don’t invite her to the party; she will create a bigger party and shut yours down.

So decreed Queen B in a rare lengthy Instagram post about “Cowboy Carter,” which is “Act II” in her “Renaissance” trilogy that began with the underground house beats of her 2022 album that had us buzzing and bopping to “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It” and “Alien Superstar.”And while it may seem like a hair-whipping flip to take it from the ballroom to the barnyard on her latest, it is not as radical of a departure as it may seem for Bey herself, who hails from Houston, Texas, and is as Southern as any hummingbird could be.“They used to say I spoke ‘too country’/And the rejection came, said I wasn’t ‘country ’nough’/Said I wouldn’t saddle up/But if that ain’t country, tell me, what is?” she sings with a snarl in her twang on “Ameriican Requiem,” the autobiographical manifesto that opens the album.This is Bey unplugged, raw and rootsy, two-stepping across the color lines that took “Texas Hold ’Em” — the banjo-picking bluegrass stomper that previewed “Cowboy Carter” last month — all the way to No.

famous mom’s album “Act II: Cowboy Carter.”The country music-inspired record dropped on Friday, with Rumi appearing on the single “Protector.”“Mom, can I hear the lullaby, please?” Rumi croons on the track as the Grammy winner, 42, then sings: “And I will lead you down that road if you lose your way/ Born to be a protector, mm-hmm/ Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own/ I will be your projector, mmm, mm-hmm.”“Even though I know some day you’re gonna shine on your own/ I will be your projector, yeah, yeah/ And even though I know some day you’re gonna shine on your own/ I will be your protector, born to be a protector,” Beyoncé goes on.Rumi — who is the twin sister of brother Sir Carter — is not the only singer in the family. Alongside parents Beyoncé and Jay-Z, older sister Blue Ivy, 12, also has some pipes on her.

Thania Garcia Beyoncé’s new album “Cowboy Carter” arrives after what the Texas-born singer says was a five-year journey she embarked on after feeling rejected by the country music world. On her eighth solo LP — a “Beyoncé album” not a country album, she insists — the artist freely pushes the boundaries of country music and utilizes the genre’s signature touchstones to make a sonic return to the house music of Act I, or 2022’s “Renaissance,” on tracks like “Riverdance” and “II Hands II Heaven.” Where “Renaissance” was an homage to queer club culture icons, “Cowboy Carter” features endorsements from Nashville’s best in the form of spoken interludes from icons like Willie Nelson, Linda Martell and Dolly Parton.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic What does “going country” mean to Beyoncé — musically speaking? That’s a mystery that really had to wait until this week to be solved. We’d already picked up a good idea of what country means to her culturally, in her few public statements in advance of “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” amplified in the one trillion thinkpieces published during the last two months, many of which really did help spur a vital conversation about Black exclusion and reclamation in one of America’s most important indigenous artforms.

Beyoncé’s cover of The Beatles classic ‘Blackbird’, included on her new album ‘Cowboy Carter’, has prompted a lot of reactions among fans.‘Cowboy Carter’ was released today (March 29), her eighth studio album and the second in an expected trilogy that began with 2022’s ‘Renaissance’.The second track on the album is a cover of the 1968 Beatles song, which she has renamed ‘Blackbiird’. Given the album’s embrace of country influences – including a cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ and appearances from Willie Nelson and Linda Martell – and its themes concerning race in American music history, the song has been chosen pointedly.Listen to ‘Blackbiird’ here:Paul McCartney wrote ‘Blackbird’ during the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, just weeks after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Beyoncé has rewritten Dolly Parton‘s ‘Jolene’ lyrics, seemingly to reference the Jay-Z cheating scandal.Queen Bey has just dropped her new ‘Cowboy Carter‘ album today (March 29), which was reported to include a cover of Parton’s iconic hit. However, fans have discovered Beyoncé has actually rewritten ‘Jolene’ and its lyrics to address Jay-Z cheating on her.‘Jolene’ now refers to someone trying to “come between a family and a happy man”, with Beyoncé singing in the chorus: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man / Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / Don’t take the chance because you think you can”.Beyoncé’s ‘Jolene’ cover also sees her reaffirm her love with her husband, with whom she tied the knot in 2008, after having dated since roughly 2002: “We’ve been deep in love for twenty years / I raised that man, I raised his kids / I know my man better than he knows himself”.In the original song, Dolly Parton thought she “can’t compete” with ‘Jolene’.

cover of her certified classic “Jolene,” which recently turned 50.“Hey Miss Honey B, it’s Dolly P,” says Parton, 79, with all her familiar, down-home warmth.“You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about?” she continues, referencing the infamous, man-stealing “Becky” from “Lemonade” standout “Sorry.”“Reminding me of someone I knew back when/Except she has flamin’ locks of auburn hair … Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”Then Bey takes the mic to deliver a soulful, acoustic-guitar-strumming rendition of Parton’s seminal hit — which, after being released in October 1973, went on to top the country chart as the title track of the singer’s 1974 album.Although it is as country as country gets, there is a bit of a hip-hop thump behind the propulsive beat to let you know that this is still very much a Beyoncé album.And after all the ballroom house beats of the first act of “Renaissance” — which came out in July 2022 — this is Bey unplugged, raw and rootsy, breaking down how betrayal knows no color before a whoop-ass choir backs her up at the end.But Parton isn’t the only country legend who — after Beyoncé hinted that she was not “welcomed” when she performed “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks at the CMA Awards in 2016 — co-signs on “Cowboy Carter.”O.G. outlaw Willie Nelson appears in two interludes — “Smoke Hour” and “Smoke Hour II” — as the host of a radio show on KNTRY in Beyoncé’s native Texas.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Beyoncé called in many artists to feature on her new album “Cowboy Carter,” spanning country icons like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson to up-and-comers including Tanner Adell and Shaboozey. But she also made it a family affair, enlisting her daughter Rumi Carter to appear on one of the record’s songs.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer It looks like Dolly Parton hinted correctly.