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Elle King has returned to the spotlight, as the singer-songwriter performed at two events over the weekend. On Friday (March 1), the “Ex’s and Oh’s” singer took the stage during the Extra Innings Festival in Tempe, Ariz., and on Saturday (March 2), opened a show on Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show Tour in San Diego, Calif.
King’s sets marked her first performances since her controversial Grand Ole Opry set in honor of Dolly Parton‘s 78th birthday in late January, where King, seemingly inebriated, forgot the lyrics as she attempted to sing the country icon’s 2001 song “Marry Me.”
“I don’t know the lyrics to this thing in this f–king town. Don’t tell Dolly ’cause it’s her birthday,” King had said during the Opry performance.
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It appears that King didn’t comment on the Opry show during her Extra Innings set. Wearing a long-sleeve, red shirt and a snakeskin skirt, King delivered songs including “Love Go By” and a cover of the Charlie Daniels Band’s “Long Haired Country Boy,” according to footage from the set on social media. Social media footage also showed her drinking from a bottle of water throughout the show.
During a recent interview with Extra, Parton offered up her thoughts on King’s Opry performance, offering grace and encouragement. “Elle is a really great artist. She’s a great girl,” the country star said. “She’s been going through a lot of hard things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink.”
Parton went on to advise, “So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”
Next up for King is a series of overseas shows, with performances as part of the Country 2 Country festival in Europe. In addition to her pop hits, King has earned two Billboard Country Airplay hits: “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert, and “Different For Girls” with Dierks Bentley.
The Academy of Country Music Awards will return to Texas on Thursday, May 16, streaming live again from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, via Prime Video, globally and exclusively.
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“Frisco, Texas, and The Star District proved to be the perfect new home for the evolution of this Emmy-nominated ‘Party,’ bringing music’s biggest global superstars to the passionate and loyal Texas Country Music fans!” ACM CEO Damon Whiteside said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to bring ACM Awards week to life again at the home of America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, along with our best-in-class partners at Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, Dick Clark Productions and our Executive Producer, Raj Kapoor, to make this year’s show even bigger and better. Fans will certainly want to be there in person to experience all the incredible moments we have in store, and we can’t wait to see everyone in Texas!”
“We all experienced firsthand last year what a perfect fit the Academy of Country Music Awards are with Ford Center at The Star, not only inside for the show, but out and around The Star District and Frisco as well,” added Dallas Cowboys Owner, President and General Manager Jerry Jones. “The stars of country music shine very brightly here in Texas, and we’re honored to be the home of this amazing celebration once again. We can’t wait to host all of the great artists and fans at Country Music’s Party of the Year!”
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ACM Awards pre-sale tickets will be available to ACM A-List subscribers, beginning Wednesday, March 6, while general on-sale will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, March 8, at SeatGeek.
In 2023, the Academy of Country Music Awards were hosted by Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton, and was a two-hour concert event that streamed live globally on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch. The night featured 18 performances from 25 artists.
The evening’s big winners included Chris Stapleton earning his first ACM entertainer of the year trophy. HARDY won two accolades (as artist and co-producer) in the music event of the year category, for “wait in the truck,” his collab with Lainey Wilson. HARDY and Wilson also won visual media of the year for “wait in the truck,” while HARDY also won in the new artist-songwriter of the year category. Wilson also won for female artist of the year and album of the year (for her set Bell Bottom Country).
Additional details for this year’s ACM Awards, including hosts, nominees, performers, and ticketing information for additional ACM events surrounding the awards have yet to be announced.
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Maren Morris wrote her first song as a preteen and says she knew, from that point on, that she wanted to be a singer. She long envisioned an equitable industry, particularly in country music, where she launched her career. But recently — after a particularly trying year in which headlines declared (not entirely accurately) that she was leaving country behind — the 33-year-old says she discovered something important: what she doesn’t want to do.
“What I’ve learned is that it’s not my job to inform everybody all the time about what I’m feeling,” Morris says, speaking from her Nashville home. “I want to talk and explain less and let the music speak for me, which was the whole point of getting into this in the first place.”
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Morris released her major-label debut, Hero, in 2016, featuring the breakout single “My Church,” for which she won her first Grammy (for best country solo performance). In 2018, she scored a crossover dance-pop smash with Zedd and Grey on “The Middle” — her first and only Billboard Hot 100 top 10 — and in 2019 released her acclaimed second album, Girl, which spawned her first Hot Country Songs No. 1, “The Bones.” That same year, she formed supergroup The Highwomen with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires. And while Morris earned her first best country album Grammy nod with 2022’s Humble Quest, she’s most proud of last year’s two-song EP The Bridge.
Both EP tracks — the chilling “The Tree” and rallying “Get the Hell Out of Here” — connect her past of passionately speaking up for underrepresented voices in country music to her future of quietly speaking up for herself. “They were conceived in a moment of great reflection and heartbreak and loss and a little bit of grief and PTSD — all the things,” Morris says. (She finalized her divorce from singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd, with whom she has a young son, in February.) “They’re definitely a part of an important conversation that I was having with myself and my existence here in Nashville. They sonically sum up my last decade. I think it was a nice chapter close.”
Now Billboard‘s 2024 Women in Music Visionary feels lighter — and more excited — than ever as she embarks upon writing her next chapter, which she’ll do under Columbia New York rather than the label’s Nashville outpost she has long called home. “I’m just compulsively being creative right now,” she says. “This weighted blanket of burden has been lifted.”
Munachi Osegbu
You recently teased new music on Instagram, writing that you’re “barfing up [your] heart.”
Yes. That’s the new album title: Heart Barf.
If not that, what phrase defines 2023 for you?
I’m going to sound so Pinterest, but I think just letting go. Or changeover. I feel like I’m on this precipice of massive, massive change. And the music’s certainly reflecting that. In 2024, not that I’ve got an album done yet, but by the week [it’s] getting clearer and clearer what the theme and the sonics are. I’m not overthinking. I’m not trying to be micromanage-y like I typically am.
How does The Bridge represent that shift?
They are two of my proudest songs as a writer because as real and gritty and personal as I have gotten in past years, I don’t know if I’ve ever been quite as vulnerable as I had with those two. And it wasn’t comfortable to write them or to even release them or do any of the creative. Everything in that was a good green light that I was on the road to whatever is next.
You worked with Jack Antonoff on “Get the Hell Out of Here.” How did you two get together?
We met a year or two ago, and we were just fans of each other’s artistry and, obviously, on my end, his production of all my favorite artists. We’ve been writing a lot this year.
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Given his work with The Chicks and Taylor Swift — women who have had similar experiences in country music — what common ground did that create?
I think the background of what those women had gone through before me was … he was the perfect guy to feel trusting and safe with that sort of song. And then with “The Tree,” Greg Kurstin, whom I’ve worked with on my last two records, we have such a familiarity with one another. I love both of those guys so much. I feel like both of their résumés are so musically unbound — I’ve been pretty all over the map with songs of my own, but when you choose a producer, you’re hoping that they have the same melting pot of influences and don’t care about genre.
What artists do you admire for seamlessly navigating different genres?
Miley Cyrus comes to mind first. She’s got one of those voices, and her creative influences are clearly so vast. I mean, just look at the diversity of her albums — it’s almost Madonna-esque, where every album is a new genre or era, because she can do pop, she can do country, and then the Dead Petz record. And then obviously, my heroes: Dolly Parton really broke down barriers of genre with “Islands in the Stream” and “Here You Come Again” and was criticized for doing so at the time because it was like, “She’s leaving country. Dolly goes pop.” Taylor [Swift is a] huge chameleon. And then Sheryl Crow as well.
What genre do you see as the closest to getting it right in terms of inclusivity and representation?
They all have room to grow. [But] just in terms of worldwide reach and really being dominated by women, pop music. It’s kind of a cool Wild West because pop music can be anything: It can be Ariana Grande, it can be Taylor, it could be Noah Kahan. So I do like the freedom of that. Music is headed in a very interesting direction. The album of the year nominees for the Grammys, women dominated. I would hope that country music eventually does the same. Because when you have everyone’s stories, the music is better, and it ushers in younger artists and songwriters and musicians to want to move to Nashville, to want to make music here. It’s interesting to see people go to pop or pop labels [who came] through country.
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You said recently you got sick of being a “yes” person. What have you joyfully said “no” to?
In the beginning, I felt this massive sense of pride when I would send an email back and just be like, “No. Pass.” But now I’ve gotten so much better at setting a boundary that it doesn’t feel like a win or a loss. And the threat of that is always, “Well, she’s a diva.” But I hope I lead by example: You don’t ever have to be a b-tch, but you can absolutely put your foot down. Bending over backward is not a thing that I’m willing to do anymore to sacrifice sleep or time with my son. I have to take care of myself.
What’s something that previously felt out of reach but now feels like it’s yours for the taking?
I think just finding joy and inner peace … I wish it wasn’t such a struggle for me. Not that I think so highly of myself, but I wish I didn’t have such a throbbing heartbeat for world suffering. I sometimes wish I could just put my head in the sand and enjoy my privilege, but I don’t want to do that. That’s not the life for me. But I think I’m letting go of having everyone around me put their feet to the fire. I can only focus on myself and align myself with people that have the same wants and morals. I want this year to be about my own happiness — becoming a better mom and boss and human and writer and all the things.
This story originally appeared in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos and albums that dropped this week.
Keith Urban and Carly Pearce each key up new albums with their latest releases. Meanwhile, newcomer Willow Avalon earns forward-facing career surge with a throwback sound, while bluegrasser Tray Wellington offers up a soulful rendering of a John Hiatt classic. Read on all these and more Billboard country favorites from the week below.
Keith Urban, “Messed Up as Me”
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Urban knows his relationship is toxic but he can’t outrun the late-night longings to return to the same comforting mistake here. As always, his voice exudes charisma and warmth as the tumble of verses mimics the frantic thoughts of the song’s protagonist, while churning guitar accompanies the buildup from the sparse verses to a hooky, pop-oriented chorus. Writers on the song include Shane McAnally and Jessie Jo Dillon (who were both up for the songwriter of the year, non-classical Grammy last month), as well as Rodney Clawson and Michael Lotten.
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Carly Pearce, “Hummingbird”
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Heading into her upcoming album Hummingbird, Pearce leans deeper into her Kentucky roots on the title track, to haunting effect. The lush, soft-lit, bluegrass-tinged feel is bolstered by sinewy fiddle and superb dobro, as she sings of finding emotional clarity and far-flung refuge in less-than-ideal circumstances. With Pearce’s sage voice and elegant twang front and center, this track manages to feel simultaneously classic and contemporary. Pearce wrote this track with Jordan Reynolds, Nicolle Galyon and (again) Shane McAnally.
Jon Wolfe, “Start Over Somewhere”
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Wolfe is no stranger to the Texas country scene, and his latest puts forth another solid bid for success with his latest, which is among the songs that have followed his 2019 EP Feels Like Country Music. The memories of an ex-love suspend too thick in the air, so he makes a break for unpolluted areas — places her memory won’t follow, whether that be wide-open spaces of Oklahoma or city life in California. Guitar and piano lines elevate both the sense of restlessness and vastness opportunity ahead of him, while his earthy rumble of a voice grounds the song (written by Brett Jones and Tony Lane) in heartbreak.
Kassi Ashton, “Called Crazy”
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Ashton flirted with Billboard‘s Country Airplay top 40 last year with “Drive You Out of My Mind.” Here, her simmering, pop-rooted vocals float over a snarling, grungy track, bringing potent swagger to a tale of a woman whose been accused by an ex-lover of some crazy stunts — pouring sugar in a gas tank, painting up his driveway. She’s dismissive of his claims because she knows, “I’ve never been called crazy by a man who didn’t come back for more.”
Willow Avalon, “Gettin’ Rich, Goin’ Broke”
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A breakthrough track from newcomer Avalon’s album Stranger, “Gettin’ Rich, Goin’ Broke” succinctly lays out the story of a musician working hard to climb the ranks. As more money flows in for the rising star, it flows out just as swiftly, as she feels obligated to meet the wants and needs of family members — whether an aunt needing a new roof, or a cousin who wants some new party shoes. Avalon’s unique vibrato might be a bit of an acquired taste for some listeners, but the traditional-minded mesh of guitars, fiddle and steel guitar is refreshingly old-school.
Tray Wellington, “Lift Up Every Stone” (bluegrass)
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North Carolina banjo player Wellington reimagines this rocking John Hiatt classic with an entwinement of banjo, mandolin and pedal steel with sterling vocal accompaniment from Wendy Hickman. Wellington’s vocal is warmer and leans more hopeful than Hiatt’s defiant original, while the thicket of bluegrass instrumentation lends this version added depth and resonance. The song follows Wellington’s 2022 album Black Banjo.
MacKenzie Porter, “Coming Home to You”
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Porter previously picked up a Country Airplay chart-topper with the Dustin Lynch collab “Thinkin’ ‘Bout You.” On her latest solo outing, Written by Tofer Brown, Lauren Hungate, Caroline Watkins and Emily Weisband, Porter revels in gratitude. She might not have the fanciest house or a gleaming vehicle, and it would be easy to play the comparison game and come up empty-handed and jealousy-filled. But instead, on this pop-laced track, she’s grateful more for what her modest fixer-upper home contains — her loved ones. The song is from Porter’s upcoming debut album, Nobody’s Born With a Broken Heart, out April 26 on Big Loud Records.
Morgan Wallen‘s Abbey Road Sessions project is here. On Sunday (March 3), the country singer surprised fans by releasing a digital collection of seven live song recordings from Studio Two at London’s Abbey Road Studios. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The release marks the one-year anniversary […]
Kacey Musgraves returned to Studio 8H on March 2.
For her third time as musical guest on Saturday Night Live, the 35-year-old country music star performed two tracks from her upcoming album, Deeper Well.
Stepping out barefoot and donning a patchwork jacket dress, Musgraves received an introduction from host Sydney Sweeney before opening with the a stirring rendition of her new project’s title track. For her second song, the singer-songwriter wrote a beautiful blue dress during “Too Good to Be True,” with assistance from her backing band.
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“I just want someone to look at me the way Sydney Sweeney looks at Kacey Musgraves,” a fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after the show. Musgraves responded to the post, writing, “The clip. I forgot to remove the clip,” she wrote, referring to a hair clip she’s seen wearing at the end of the program.
Musgraves took the stage as musical guest on SNL for the third time, having previously done it in May 2018 and October 2021. On the heels of winning her seventh Grammy honor Feb. 4 (for best country duo/group performance with Zach Bryan for “I Remember Everything”), the artist will release her fifth studio album, Deeper Well, on March 15, through Interscope/MCA Nashville. The project follows her previous project, Star-Crossed, which released in 2021.
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In a statement, Musgraves explained that she took inspiration for the new album from the energy in New York City’s Greenwich Village and that she recorded the project at the iconic Electric Lady studios. The album will “serve as a lens focusing on moments of life that often go unnoticed, turning them into timeless songs that strike a chord deep within listeners. Saturn returns, cardinals embody a dead friend, love is given and taken, streets rush by, belongings are packed and old chapters deserted, new love blooms, jade bracelets serve as talismans, deep lessons emerge, small details define everything, the woods are a refuge and New York City serves as the same gleaming beacon as Oz.”
Watch Musgraves’ SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
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With radio programmers spread across the country, it’s not often that artists have a chance to interact with the programmers and personnel who have aided them in their respective journeys to earning their first country radio hits — at the same time, all in one room. But each year, they do get that chance when radio programmers — along with plenty of label personnel — gather in Nashville for the Country Radio Seminar.
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On Friday (March 1), following three days of radio and streaming-focused panels and label luncheons, the conference concluded by highlighting five highly-promising new artists.
This year’s class featured Records Nashville’s George Birge, Riser House’s Dillon Carmichael, Sony Music Nashville/RCA’s Corey Kent, Sony Music Nashville/Columbia’s Megan Moroney and Valory Music’s Conner Smith.
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The night’s performances were tightly focused, with artists largely running through their familiar breakthrough hits, while also offering glimpses into what lies ahead musically.
First up was Kent. In an introductory video that played on the main screens prior to his performance, Kent began by thanking country radio for “helping us to deliver the biggest axe blow we’ve ever had,” in making his single “Wild as Her” a top 5 Country Airplay hit. “There will be many more to come,” he promised. Taking the New Faces stage, Kent introduced his set with the brooding “Gold.”
“If you know anything about me, you know this. I believe tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and what you do today matters. What we do tonight is take a few risks … you either getting busy living or you’re getting busy dying.”
He then offered his most recent radio single, “Something’s Gonna Kill Me,” a churning, freewheeling song which made great use of his rock-woven, rugged voice. From there, he offered his breakthrough hit “Wild as Her.” He largely stayed close to center stage throughout his set. Not that he needed to roam the stage — his voice, full-bodied and shot through with rock influences, permeated the room.
“Thank y’all so much, country radio!” he told the packed ballroom of radio executives, before offering a preview of a new song, titled “This Heart,” which Kent noted will soon impact country radio.
Next up was Birge, who reached No. 2 on the Country Airplay heart earlier this year with “Mind on You.” Microphone in hand, he stalked the stage as he offered the hard-rock influenced “Hard on the Bottle.” He later gave the audience an early look at new song “Damn Right I Do,” and concluded with “Cowboy Songs.”
“I’ve dreamed about this day for a long, long time and damn it did not disappoint,” he said. “I couldn’t come here and not play the song that you changed my life with,” he added before taking up a guitar to perform “Mind on You.”
“Thank you for believing in me,” he told the audience. “I don’t take for granted for one second that I get to be up here on this stage and it’s because of you guys.”
Before Nashville native Smith took the stage, screens on both sides of the stage showed home videos of Smith as a young child, around five or six years old, performing covers of hits from Kenny Chesney and Montgomery Gentry, followed by footage of Smith earning a standing ovation during his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2022.
Smith, clad in a white shirt and black leather jacket, began his high-octane set with “Smoky Mountains,” the title track from his January-released full-length album.
He noted that he’s attended the New Faces of Country Music Show a few times. “I would always watch and just pray that I would get a chance to be on this stage,” he said, thanking the crowd. “It means so much more than you know.” He then rolled into another song from the album, “Heatin’ Up.”
He also offered up with the tender, fiddle-laced duet “Roulette on the Heart” (though his duet partner on the song, Hailey Whitters, wasn’t in attendance). Still, Smith’s solo rendition connected with the audience just fine, thanks to his warm, smoothing vocals.
Smith also thanked country radio for changing his life by making the revved-up “Creek Will Rise” a hit. “It’s like Luke Bryan says — rain is a good thing,” Smith said before launching into the careening, rock-fueled, slightly bluesy track. ”Long live country radio!” he said, exiting the stage.
Kentucky native Carmichael, who is currently out on tour opening shows for Cody Johnson, launched his set with “Raised Up Wrong.”
“What an opportunity this is. Thank you for giving us a chance,” he said, before launching into his breakthrough hit “Son of A.” “In order to even qualify to be voted for to be a new face, one of those qualifications is you have to have at least a top 25 at country radio, so I want to thank my team for continuing to push this song we are about to play … and for country radio all of you who kept playing it … it means so much.”
He concluded with another uptempo track, one perfect for getting crowds to lift up their cups and enjoy some levity, with his current top 40 Country Airplay hit, “Drinkin’ Problems.”
The evening included a special moment to remember the life and career of the late country star Toby Keith, who died last month at age 62 following a battle with stomach cancer.
“He lived life fully, right to the end,” CRS Board of Directors president Kurt Johnson said, noting that Keith had planned to perform during Country Radio Seminar this year. CRB/CRS executive director RJ Curtis noted that 30 years ago that night, Keith made his New Faces Show debut in 1994. Then screens on either side of the main stage showed clips from Keith’s CRS New Faces of Country Music Show debut, including a performance of “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and a short interview clip of Keith from his New Faces debut.
The lone woman on this year’s New Faces bill, Moroney closed out the lineup that evening. She is also one of the most-celebrated newcomers, thanks to her breakthrough hit, “Tennessee Orange,” and her debut album, Lucky.
“Anybody feel lucky?” she asked as she took the stage, clad in one of her signature sparkly, brightly-colored dresses to perform the title track to her album Lucky, as images of horseshoes, four-leaf clovers and boots crisscrossed the screen behind her.
Moroney’s star power was undeniable from the first song. From there she sailed through southernism-tinged kiss-off “I’m Not Pretty” and new release “No Caller ID” (which debuted at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart earlier this year), led by her warm-hued voice, which cracked in all the right places, letting the emotional nuances of each song seep through.
“I have a lot of new music coming out this year that I’m excited for you to hear,” she teased, later adding, “Thank you for your support of me and my songs. I love writing songs. I love to do this and I get to do this because of you,” she said. In a departure from earlier performers on the bill, Moroney’s set offered its share of ballads, including the introspective song from Lucky “Girl in the Mirror.” Moroney closed with a faithful live rendering of her hit “Tennessee Orange.”
Since its inception in 1970, the New Faces of Country Music Show has put some of country music’s brightest new talents in the spotlight, with the members of the Class of 2024 joining the list of past New Faces performers including Tim McGraw, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Jelly Roll.
Cody Johnson earns his second leader on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “The Painter” ascends 3-1 on the March 9-dated ranking. During the Feb. 23-29 tracking week, the single increased by 12% to 31.2 million impressions, according to Luminate.
Johnson, from Sebastopol, Texas, previously hit No. 8 on Country Airplay with “Human” in June 2023, and his first No. 1, “‘Til You Can’t,” which ruled for two frames starting in March 2022. Prior to his three top 10s, his first entry, “With You I Am,” reached No. 40 in May 2017. He broke through further with “On My Way to You” (No. 11, June 2019).
Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins and Ryan Larkins co-wrote “The Painter,” which Trent Willmon produced. It’s the lead single from Johnson’s LP Leather, which arrived on Top Country Albums at its No. 5 best last November, becoming his fifth top 10.
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Johnson’s additional song, and next proper single, on Country Airplay, “Dirt Cheap,” places at No. 58 (736,000).
‘23’ Is Top 10
Chayce Beckham’s “23” climbs 11-10 on Country Airplay (18.4 million, up 5%), becoming his first top 10. The Apple Valley, Calif., native was crowned the winner of ABC’s American Idol in 2021 and performed “23” live on-air during that season. He had written the song a year before, and became the first champ to win the competition performing an original song.
Beckham is the fourth winner in the Idol franchise to hit the Country Airplay top 10. He joins Carrie Underwood (30 top 10s, including 16 No. 1s, after winning in 2005), Scotty McCreery (eight top 10s, five No. 1s; 2011) and Kelly Clarkson (two top 10s, one No. 1; 2002, Idol’s inaugural season).
Meanwhile, “23” (not the same composition as Sam Hunt’s song of the same name that topped Country Airplay for a week in April 2022) is the chart’s first top 10 written by a single person since Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which led for five weeks beginning last July.
After reaching Billboard’s country charts for the first time with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Beyoncé makes her first appearance on a rock radio airplay tally with the buzzy, banjo-inflected single.
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The song debuts at No. 36 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart dated March 9. It’s Beyoncé’s maiden placement on any of Billboard’s rock-based airplay lists (Adult Alternative Airplay, Alternative Airplay, Mainstream Rock Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay). Adult Alternative Airplay reflects songs’ weekly plays on a panel of 50 adult alternative-formatted stations, with data, as monitored by Mediabase, provided to Billboard by Luminate. The format encompasses music under the umbrella of Americana, including material considered more specifically folk, country, blues, soul and other related styles.
The leader in spins for “Texas Hold ‘Em” on the Adult Alternative Airplay panel Feb. 23-29 was KVYN in Napa Valley, Calif. The station played the song 45 times in that span.
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“KVYN decided to get on this Beyoncé track right away, mostly to support her musical evolution and dabbling in American roots music,” KVYN program director Nate Campbell tells Billboard. “So far, it’s working in our rotation and we’re happy to have ‘Country Beyoncé’ in our mix.”
Adult Alternative Airplay is the latest airplay chart on which “Texas Hold ‘Em” has debuted. The song bounded 54-34 in its second week on Country Airplay (March 2) and dips to No. 38 on the March 9 survey. Concurrently, it bounds 28-16 on Adult Pop Airplay, 25-17 on Pop Airplay and 36-23 on Rhythmic Airplay – as the Greatest Gainer on each chart – as well as 28-24 on Adult R&B Airplay, 36-32 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and 40-32 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.
Thanks to Country Airplay and Adult Alternative Airplay now on her résumé, Beyoncé ties Pharrell Williams for the most airplay charts – 18 – on which any artist has appeared. (Among women, she surpasses Mariah Carey, with 17.) The 18 airplay charts, among 25 in Billboard’s menu, that Beyoncé has graced: Adult Alternative Airplay, Adult Contemporary, Adult Pop Airplay, Adult R&B Airplay, Country Airplay, Dance/Mix Show Airplay, Gospel Airplay, Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, Latin Rhythm Airplay, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Pop Airplay, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the all-format Radio Songs chart, Rap Airplay, Rhythmic Airplay, Smooth Jazz Airplay and Tropical Airplay.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” and counterpart “16 Carriages” are expected to be on Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, the follow-up to the Houston native’s 2022 LP Renaissance, due March 29. Both tracks were released Feb. 11 – with the latter having launched atop the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart dated Feb. 24. It added a second week at No. 1 on the most recently published, March 2-dated chart, when it also ascended to the top of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. In addition to 16.1 million in all-format radio airplay audience, the song drew 29 million official U.S. streams and sold 29,000 Feb. 16-22, according to Luminate.
All Billboard charts dated March 9 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, March 5.
On Thursday (Feb. 29), three-time Grammy winner Trisha Yearwood led a conversation with reigning CMA entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson, as part of the 2024 Country Radio Seminar in downtown Nashville.
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Among the topics they discussed were the importance of women artists standing up for themselves, the similarities in their respective career paths, and battling imposter syndrome.
Both have carved out multi-faceted careers, with No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, awards accolades and work in television. (Wilson was featured on the series Yellowstone, while Yearwood is known for her Food Network cooking series Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, as well as roles in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, the live television musical The Passion and a recurring role on the military drama JAG).
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In May 1991, Yearwood’s debut single “She’s in Love With the Boy” appeared on the Country Airplay chart; by early August that same year, it had reached the pinnacle. In 2021, Wilson earned her first No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit with “Things a Man Oughta Know,” and has followed with a string of chart-toppers.
They discussed their rapid career rises, with Yearwood recalling that time period surrounding the radio success for her debut radio single, “She’s in Love With the Boy” feeling like “a dream come true,” but she also described it as “holding onto a runaway train and just trying to keep up. And a lot of it is a blur, until I made myself figure out how to be in the moment.”
“I’m in the process of that right now… the last few years have been a whirlwind in the best kind of way,” Wilson responded, adding, “Somebody was telling me — I think it was back in 2017 when I signed my first publishing deal — they told me, ‘It’s going to feel like you’re being drug behind a ski boat for years.’”
Taking on country radio
Wilson (who earned her first Grammy this year for her album Bell Bottom Country) has earned four No. 1 Country Airplay hits: “Things a Man Oughta Know,” the Jelly Roll collaboration “Save Me,” the two-week chart-topper “Never Say Never” (with Cole Swindell) and the three-week solo No. 1, “Watermelon Moonshine.”
But Wilson recalled how when she was first taking her music to radio, there was at least one difficult encounter with a radio exec, pointing out the importance of not taking no for an answer.
“Radio tour, it was hard. It was really, really hard, I’m not going to lie to y’all,” Wilson said. “It taught me a lot. I made a lot of friends along the way that I still text and we talk all the time. But I do remember one specific stop: I go in and we waited in the foyer. He brings us into his office and he said, ‘Play me what you got.’ This was my first single, ‘Dirty Looks.’ He said, ‘You should have left your guitar in the car. I don’t want to hear you play. I want to hear what it sounds like through the speakers.’ Well, he had like 1997 computer speakers, so of course you couldn’t understand anything that the song was saying. He listened to it twice, back-to-back. I was just sitting there and he let the second time finish. He leans across his desk and he said, ‘Lainey, you’re just not that good.’ And I leaned across his desk and I said, ‘So-and-so, out of the 10 years that I’ve been in Nashville, you telling me that don’t mean s–t.’”
She went on to add, “It did light another fire underneath me. After I left there, I was like, ‘Okay, at the end of the day you put yourself out there. Not everybody’s going to like you or love you … I think moments like that, they’re not fun. But if anything, they do build character. They give you fun stories to talk about with Trisha Yearwood.”
Yearwood, who has earned five No. 1 Country Airplay hits, offered up her own difficult encounter during one radio interview, when a radio interviewer brought up a fake story about Yearwood that had been in a tabloid.
“I was doing a show and went to the radio station that was sponsoring the show,” Yearwood recalled. “The DJ thought it was funny..and said, ‘Let’s talk about this.’ I said, ‘I can’t believe you would ask me that question.’ And I left, and I’ve never done anything like that.” She went on to add that, “They were very apologetic, but to say to you — and I don’t know if you’ve had that experience yet — but I wish I had learned earlier. I was about your age that I was like, ‘I’m kind and I’m nice, but there’s some things that aren’t okay.’ It’s okay to say that’s not right.”
Leading with purpose — and advice from Dolly
Yearwood also noted the importance of being selective in the projects you agree to take on, to make sure they are in alignment with an artist’s goals.
“I never said, ‘I want to have a cookbook. I want to have a cooking show,’” Yearwood said. “But I was open for the opportunities when they came. And I’ve said no to a lot more stuff than I said yes to. But I say yes to the things that feel right to me. And that’s always the bar to follow. People can read through things when they know it’s not genuine.”
“There’s definitely been times where I felt like I was doing it all,” Wilson said, relating some advice she received from Dolly Parton. “I asked her, ‘How do you decide everything that you’re doing?’ She said, ‘It has to be something that I’m really passionate about and excited to do. It that’s not the case, then I don’t do it.’”
Navigating Social Media
Wilson also shared advice she wrote down shortly after meeting Yearwood for the first time. “She said, ‘For y’all right now, the line between being loved and hated by the world is getting smaller every day. I was like, ‘Oh, Lord’ — because sometimes people love you, people hate you, and then sometimes people hate you because people love you.”
“That’s true: There’s this whole thing of everybody rooting [for you], then when you get to the top of the heap, now we got to figure out a way to make her not superhuman. Now we got to take her down a peg,” Yearwood said. “I guess that’s human nature and the social media aspect makes the world bigger, and smaller.”
She added, “Every time I used to read the comments — good God, don’t do that. I used to read and I’d just get so upset by things and I would call my people and go, ‘We’re getting off of social media.’ And they were like, ‘Actually, you can’t really do that.’ I wanted to interact, but then I realized that I also needed to protect my mental health.”
“Yeah, because even if you put your eyes on it for a split second, it still pings your heart … you’re still human.”
Battling Imposter Syndrome
They also fielded questions from the audience, including one about staying centered as a person during a career rise, and battling imposter syndrome.
“I have a lot of people in my life who remind me of my hard work,” Wilson said. “Even folks like Luke Combs. The day after the CMAs, he texted me this huge novel, and he’s like, ‘Lainey, I just want you to remember that you’re that girl that moved here and lived in that camper trailer and I knew you back then. I’m so proud to see your hard work being recognized and don’t you start thinking that you didn’t deserve this for one second.’ It’s keeping people like those close people who lift you up — also just talking to the Lord. At the end of the day, I got to keep those things close really, really close because this business is hard.”