Topline
Beyoncé shared the cover art for her upcoming album “Cowboy Carter” on social media Tuesday, with a note giving fans some insight as to why she’s making a country album and referenced a past experience she’d had where she “did not feel welcomed” — a potential reference to a high-profile appearance at the 2016 Country Music Awards that drew controversy at the time.
Key Facts
Beyoncé shared a lengthy note with her Instagram followers Tuesday thanking them for the support they’ve given her for the two singles she’s already released — “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” — ahead of her full album release later this month.
While pointing out that she’s the first Black woman with a number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart, the singer noted that she hopes in the future “the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
Beyoncé said her new album was “born out of” an experience years ago where she felt unwelcome, potentially referring to her time performing at the 2016 Country Music Awards.
Crucial Qoute
“This album has been over five years in the making,” Beyoncé wrote on Instagram. “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.”
Key Background
In 2016, Beyoncé performed her song “Daddy Lessons” at the Country Music Awards with The Chicks, a country music band formerly known as the Dixie Chicks. The performance was applauded by many and allegedly contributed to some of the most-watched minutes of a CMA awards in the show’s history. But the performance also saw fierce backlash from some country music fans who claimed to not understand why she was invited to perform at the awards show. Some of the criticism was tied to Beyoncé’s politics and her performance at the 2016 Super Bowl months earlier. Years after the performance, Natalie Maines, the lead singer of The Chicks, said the CMA’s “caved” and took a video of the performance down after receiving racist backlash for Beyoncé’s performance. Maines said the CMA’s received so much backlash for the decision to remove the performance from its sites they put it back up 24 hours later. The CMA’s denied removing the performance and CMA’s CEO Sarah Trahern told the New York Times they “denied that any nefarious deleting had taken place” and said they were waiting for Beyoncé’s team’s approval to post content from the performance.
What We Don’t Know
In her Tuesday post, Beyoncé said she collaborated with some artists for songs included on the album but it’s unclear exactly who they may be.
What To Watch For
“Cowboy Carter” will be released March 29.
