Country
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During Sunday night’s Super Bowl, Beyoncé dropped two new country-flavored songs, the galloping “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and the more reflective “16 Carriages.” But country radio stations have been initially slow to add the Houston-born superstar.
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In the two songs’ first 24-plus hours of release (from Sunday night through the end of Monday), eight reporters to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart played “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and only one, KBAY San Francisco, played it more than once (two spins), for a total of nine early plays at the format, according to Mediabase. No stations on the country chart’s panel, which ranges from 145-to-150 stations, played “16 Carriages” in that span. Overall, “Texas Hold ‘Em” received over 200 all-format plays, largely on pop radio, in that stretch, while “16 Carriages” drew just a handful of plays. Neither song registered enough plays through Monday to appear on Billboard’s 60-position Country Airplay chart.
The situation at country radio may change, however. On Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 13), Columbia officially serviced “Texas Hold ‘Em” to country radio, whereas it had previously been sent to other formats, according to a source. Country radio has traditionally been reluctant to play songs that aren’t serviced to them or then actively promoted by the label. The two songs are part of Renaissance Act II coming from Beyoncé on March 29. Beyoncé has flirted with country music before, releasing “Daddy Lessons” on 2016’s Lemonade and playing the track with the Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) on that year’s CMA Awards. That song was not actively worked to country radio, according to a Billboard story at the time, and did not chart at country radio, though it did reach No. 41 on the Hot 100.
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Bo Matthews, programming director of Alpha Media’s KBAY, which played “Texas Hold ‘Em” twice on Monday and continues to play it, says listener reaction has been “split.” He says, “I think it’s different to hear Beyoncé on a country radio station. We’re going to play it more and see if it the audience likes it and let them allow to be the decider as to whether or not it continues to be on the playlist.”
KBAY began playing “Texas Hold ‘Em” before Sony Music serviced to country radio, so Matthews grabbed the edit (which bleeps out the word “b—-”) from one of KBAY’s sister stations playing it, had KBAY’s midday host add it and asked listeners to weigh in. “It’s one of the biggest celebrities in the world doing a country song and I think that’s exciting for the format,” he says.
On Tuesday, the Austin American-Stateman ran a news story based on a social media post claiming country station KYKC in Ada, Oklahoma, flat-out rejected a request to play “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The story included a screenshot of a post from X (formerly Twitter) user @jussatto, who said he had requested the station play the song and received the following response, “Hi, we do not play Beyonce on KYKC as we are a country music station.” Another fan posted another response from the KYKC, saying it will “happily play the song when it gets high enough on the chart.”
These claims immediately sparked a broader online debate over whether country stations would play the song. On Tuesday afternoon, the station, which is not a Mediabase reporter, posted on Facebook that there were “lots of calls coming in” for the song and posted a log showing “Texas Hold ‘Em” played at 2:28 p.m. CT, sandwiched between Zach Bryan’s “Tishomingo” and Carrie Underwood’s “Wasted.”
A source at the station, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Billboard that the initial email response posted on X was from the station’s general manager, who did not know that Beyoncé had released two new country songs. KYKC’s sister Top 40 station had already played the song, and while the country station tends not to add songs until they are in the top 30 on Mediabase, “based on the number of calls we got in, we realized we needed to add it to the country station,” the source says. The song is now in the station’s system and it will continue to play it.
CMT immediately added “Texas Hold ‘Em” to its branded streaming stations and anticipates playing a video once one is released. A number of streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music have also added it to their playlists. The song is currently on Spotify’s Hot Country playlist and it is No. 1 on iTunes’ Top 100 Songs chart, with “16 Carriages” at No. 2. Neither song appears on iTunes Top 100 Country Song chart, which is dominated by songs from Toby Keith’s catalog, following his death Feb. 5.
Beyoncé is just one of several pop artists planning to release country projects, including Post Malone and Lana Del Rey. Ed Sheeran told Billboard that he’d like to make a country album and a country project recorded by Brian Wilson in the ‘70s, is finally coming out next year, according to Rolling Stone.
Audacy and iHeartRadio country executives did not respond to request for comment. Beyoncé’s representative declined to any answer questions about the releases and the plan at radio.
Assistance on this story provided by Gary Trust.
Spurred by Kip Moore‘s massive touring success in Cape Town and Pretoria last year, South Africa is set to launch what organizers are calling one of the largest country music festivals outside of the United States.
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Kip Moore and Zac Brown Band will headline the Cape Town Country Festival on Oct. 26-27 at Cape Town’s 60,000-capacity DHL Stadium, which has previously hosted concerts from stars like U2, Foo Fighters, Mariah Carey, Rhianna and Justin Bieber.
“I absolutely love Africa and try to visit every year,” Zac Brown said in a statement. “We’re so excited that we get to perform at South Africa’s first-ever country music festival in October.”
The lineup also highlights American musicians including Darius Rucker, Brothers Osborne, Cam, James Johnston, Morgan Wade and Craig Morgan, as well as 10 local South African artists including Ricus Nel, Riaan Benade, Demi-Lee Moore, Juan Boucher, Appel, Ruhan du Toit, Brendan Peyper, Ivan Roux, West and Cheree. Additionally, Roan Ash, who moved to Nashville in 2022, will return to his hometown for the inaugural festival.
Wimpie van der Sandt of Heroes Events, who is also a DJ at BOK Radio, is producing the Cape Town Country Festival, with Red Light Management’s Gaines Sturdivant, one of Moore’s managers, serving as an executive consultant.
Moore’s headlining slot on the festival follows his successful trio of shows in Cape Town and Pretoria in 2023, where Moore sold 44,000 tickets. Van der Sandt was also instrumental in bringing those shows to South Africa.
The origins of Moore’s involvement with the festival and in building his audience in South Africa reach back to 2020 when Van der Sandt was introduced to Moore’s second studio album, 2015’s Wild Ones. Van der Sandt put Moore’s song “Heart’s Desire” on the radio during primetime hours.
“He said it caught like wildfire and people started calling and emailing trying to figure out who it was,” Moore tells Billboard via phone. “Then he did a deep dive into all my records and started playing lots of album cuts that I’ve always wanted to be singles, like ‘That Was Us’ and ‘The Bull.’ We had hits over there that we never even played live, like ‘Hey Old Lover’ and ‘Tennessee Boy.’ So when we played in South Africa, it was unlike anything I’d ever felt from a crowd. It was magical. And it was all from this one guy taking a chance and spinning my records.”
“The idea [for Cape Town Country Festival] was born from the success we had with Kip. We knew the synergy between South African music and country music — that wasn’t a surprise,” Van der Sandt tells Billboard. “When we saw the success we had with Kip, we knew we had a market. In South Africa, on our radio stations, they are used to Don Williams and Kenny Rogers, older country music. There’s not a lot of radio stations that play country music. We sort of introduced them to the new country and it took off. There were a lot of people that were skeptical about it, and didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Moore adds, “The beauty of what Wimpie did is that he doesn’t have any gatekeepers he has to get through. If he decides he likes something, he’ll roll the dice, take a chance and play it. He’s a true music lover. He’s a prime example that radio can still lead the way — they don’t have to just find out what’s streaming and follow it.”
Moore worked with Van der Sandt and Sturdivant on imagining the lineup. “I brought up Brothers Osborne — because I felt like if people were responding to what I’m doing, they’ll respond to Brothers Osborne. Darius Rucker has played in South Africa before. I said I loved the rawness in Morgan Wade’s voice,” Moore says, noting their previous collaboration, “If I Was Your Lover,” and imagining that they might perform the song together during the festival. “We’re super excited about shining a light on South African artists.”
The festival further evolves Moore’s touring success in the area as well as the vital scene of both country music fans and artists in South Africa. In 2023, Apple Music launched the country music competition series My Kind of Country, which highlighted international competitors. Nearly half of the competitors — including the competition’s eventual winner — hailed from South Africa. Moore says that he and his fest co-organizers are “super excited about shining a light on South African artists.”
Van der Sandt tells Billboard that they have a three-year agreement with the venue, with aims toward making the festival an annual event, on the scale of country music festivals such as Europe’s C2C: Country 2 Country festival and the Tamworth Country Music Festival in New South Wales, Australia.
Tickets for the event go on sale Feb. 16 at ctcfest.net, and will include special payment plans, allowing attendees to purchase tickets and pay over three, six or eight months.
2023 saw overall touring numbers accelerate to greater heights, and country music touring was a solid factor in that growth. On Monday (Feb. 12), the Country Music Association honored the touring crews that help keep country music’s biggest artists on the road and rocking out night after night for packed crowds of fans.
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Approximately 900 people gathered at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works to fete road crews supporting the tours for artists including Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Kenny Chesney, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Zac Brown Band and more.
Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern noted that touring personnel make up the largest block of the CMA’s nearly 7,000 members.
“You touring guys overtook the artists this past year,” Trahern said, eliciting cheers from the audience. “Your hard work on the road and support of those in the spotlight does not go unnoticed. Tonight we want to honor those of you who stood out among your peers for this honor.”
“2023 was a record year for touring and country music grew in unprecedented ways, and expanded into new and uncharted territories,” Trahern added. “From right here in Nashville, all across the U.S. and around the globe, live music was at an all-time high and we saw some of our biggest and best tours in our format’s history. The individuals in this room know better than anyone just how much time, hard work and heart goes into creating the magic that takes place when an artist takes the stage with a room full of fans.”
Two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Urban, who at one point on his long journey to stardom worked as a lighting roadie for a band in Australia, returned as host for a second year.
“I genuinely love celebrating you guys for all that you do,” he said, later adding, “You definitely have a job that gets under appreciated, so I love that I get to do this. Tonight is the night for all of you to get to step out from behind the scenes.”
This year’s CMA Touring Awards expanded to honor more people than ever who work behind the scenes to propel country music’s top tours. Not only did this year’s CMA Touring Awards feature an expanded number of finalists across categories, but also saw the addition of five new categories, upping the total number of categories to 20. The newly-added categories include backline technician of the year, stage manager of the year, support services company of the year and unsung hero of the year.
The evening also bestowed the CMA Touring lifetime achievement award to the late industry veteran and former head of CAA’s Nashville office, Ron Baird. A video tribute offered praise from several artists and industry members Baird worked with throughout the years, including Shania Twain, Billy Dean, Martina McBride and Clint Black, as well as CAA’s John Huie (who Baird worked with to launch CAA’s first Nashville office in 1992) and Rod Essig, former CMA executive director Ed Benson and WME’s Keith Miller. Baird’s stepson, CAA’s Marc Dennis, accepted the honor on his behalf.
“His lasting legacy will be the people he encouraged to get into our business. Ron was incredibly generous with his time,” Dennis said, noting one of Baird’s favorite sayings: “‘Patience, perseverance, and persistence.’ The three P’s. Anyone who has been at CAA and has been around Ron remembers the three P’s … he was an incredibly gentle person, but he was a hell of an agent. He encouraged so many, myself included.”
Following remarks from CMA senior vp of industry relations & philanthropy Tiffany Kerns, showcasing the range of support benefits the CMA offers to its touring members, the organization revealed a new CMA Touring Mentorship Program, designed for those early in their touring careers. The participants will be paired with a veteran touring professional for meetings, and opportunities for job shadowing and projects. Mentor categories will include a tour manager, a band leader/musician, a production manager, a production assistant, a front of house engineer, a monitor engineer, and a lighting director/designer. CMA worked with Chris Lisle and Curt Jenkins (both from the Touring Career Workshop) as well as musician Danny Rader to create the program.
Touring crews for reigning CMA male vocalist of the year Stapleton and reigning CMA entertainer of the year winner Wilson took home the lion’s share of the awards wins Monday evening. Both Stapleton and Wilson were in attendance to support their touring families.
Notably, many of the honorees from Wilson’s crew were women, including coach/truck driver of the year winner Erin Siegfried, tour videographer/photographer of the year CeCe Dawson, tour manager of the year Meg Miller and manager of the year Mandelyn Monchick.
“This is so special,” Monchick said in accepting her manager of the year honor. “I’ve come up over the past nine years getting to know a lot of you, me and Lainey both, and the people we’ve met along the way, and the people who have lifted us up and given us a chance and listened to a demo, listened to a song, wrote a song with her, it all started there. We’ve built a really beautiful team along the way, especially strong women.
“It all starts at the top and we have an amazing leader that we look up to, Lainey,” she continued. “The way she treats people and leads with grace, it’s contagious and it trickles down, and I’m really thankful that I get to work with people that inspire me every day.”
Stapleton’s team picked up wins for stage manager of the year (Todd Green), lighting director (Mac Mosier), front of house engineer (Arpad Sayko), touring musician (Paul Franklin), production manager (John Garriott).
The evening ended with the awarding of the inaugural crew of the year trophy, which honors the entire crew of a country music tour (which undertook a multi-city run of concerts during the eligibility period), with the accolade recognizing consistently demonstrated professionalism, skills, teamwork, hospitality and all-around excellence. Stapleton’s All-American Road Show crew won the inaugural prize. After the entire crew filled the stage at Marathon Music Works, several members of the touring ensemble offered thanks to Stapleton, his wife and musical partner Morgane Stapleton, and the rest of their road family.
“This award really is about these guys up here,” Stapleton raved. “I don’t love to speak and I don’t particularly love crowds, if you can believe that or not. I like them coming to the show, but I like to play music, and everybody up here helps me do that every night in ways that would not be possible in any way, shape or form, if everybody wasn’t at the top of their game and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to play music, which is what I love to do, so thank you so much. It’s always about the music … we always serve that and it’s so wonderful to get to do that as a job every day.”
See the full list of this year’s CMA Touring Awards winners below:
Business manager of the year: Duane Clark (FBMM)
Publicist of the year: Tyne Parrish (The Greenroom PR)
Venue of the year: Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Talent agent of the year: Jay Williams (WME)
Talent buyer/promoter of the year: Louis Messina (The Messina Group)
Manager of the year: Mandelyn Monchick (Red Light Management/Lainey Wilson)
Coach/truck driver of the year: Erin Siegfried (Lainey Wilson)
Tour video director of the year: Chris Jones (Jelly Roll)
Tour videographer/photographer of the year: CeCe Dawson (Lainey Wilson)
Stage manager of the year: Todd Green (Chris Stapleton)
Support services company of the year: Clair Global
Backline technician of the year: Joel “Tico” Jimenez (Thomas Rhett)
Lighting director of the year: Mac Mosier (Chris Stapleton)
Front of house engineer of the year: Arpad Sayko (Chris Stapleton)
Monitor engineer of the year: Bryan “Opie” Baxley (Kenny Chesney)
Touring musician of the year: Paul Franklin (Chris Stapleton/Vince Gill – steel guitar)
Tour manager of the year: Meg Miller (Lainey Wilson)
Production manager of the year: John Garriott (Chris Stapleton)
Unsung hero of the year: Kelsey Maynard (assistant tour manager/Old Dominion)
Crew of the year: Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show crew
Singer-songwriter and country icon Toby Keith, who passed away Feb. 5 at age 62 after a battle with stomach cancer, makes Billboard chart history as the first artist to claim nine spots in the top 10 of the Country Digital Song Sales survey (dated Feb. 17).
Keith passes the seven top 10s on the chart logged by Kenny Rogers (April 4, 2020, following his death) and Taylor Swift (Nov. 13, 2010, thanks to the arrival of her album Speak Now).
Keith’s 2018 track “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” which he performed Sept. 28, 2023, at the People’s Choice Country Awards, returns at No. 1 on Country Digital Song Sales with 27,000 sold (up 3,744%) Feb. 2-8, according to Luminate. The song first topped the chart (which began in 2010) last October, becoming his second No. 1. “Red Solo Cup,” one of Keith’s signature feel-good anthems, dominated for 14 frames beginning in November 2011.
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Here’s a rundown of all nine of Keith’s top 10s on the latest Country Digital Song Sales chart.
No. 1, “Don’t Let the Old Man In” (27,000 sold, up 3,744%)
No. 3, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” (11,000, up 6,298%)
No. 4, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” (11,000, up 8,240%)
No. 5, “How Do You Like Me Now?!” (7,000, up 6,791%)
No. 6, “As Good as I Once Was” (7,000, up 6,241%)
No. 7, “Beer for My Horses,” with Willie Nelson (6,000, up 6,080%)
No. 8, “I Love This Bar” (6,000, up 5,176%)
No. 9, “American Soldier” (5,000, up 8,208%)
No. 10, “Red Solo Cup” (5,000, up 9,917%)
The only song not by Keith in the top 10: Luke Combs’ “Fast Car,” at No. 2, up 1,185% to 17,000 sold after he performed it – with its writer, Tracy Chapman, whose original version hit the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 in 1988 – at the Grammy Awards Feb. 4.
Concurrently, Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits flies 38-1 on Top Country Albums. Released in 2008, the set earned 66,000 equivalent album units, up 953% from 6,000 the week before. The album initially entered atop the chart in May 2008, becoming Keith’s sixth of 10 leaders. On the all-genre Billboard 200, it re-enters at No. 1, after originally peaking at No. 2, awarding Keith his fifth chart-topper.
35 Biggest Hits contains 31 of Keith’s 42 top 10s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including 15 of his 20 No. 1s. Among them: his debut hit “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” which led for two weeks in June 1993. It re-enters the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based list at No. 13 with 8.3 million official U.S. streams (up 326%) and 3.5 million airplay audience impressions (up 299%), in addition to its sales.
Four other Keith classics, all in the Country Digital Song Sales top 10, as noted above, return to Hot Country Songs: “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” (No. 15), “As Good as I Once Was” (No. 19), “Don’t Let the Old Man In” (No. 22, a new peak, and his 62nd top 40 hit) and “How Do You Like Me Now?!” (No. 23).
Neighbor-to-neighbor, John Rich had a simple request for fellow country star Brad Paisley: “Hey Brad, give us a heads up next time bro.” That was the message Rich tweeted at Paisley on Monday after the “I’m Still a Guy” singer hosted a fundraiser for President Joe Biden at his Nashville home over the weekend featuring First Lady Jill Biden.
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“This visit shut down the interstate in Nashville, but I heard Jill raised a ton of money @BradPaisley’s house,” Rich wrote on X. “That traffic was brutal.” Travel by any President and First Lady often snarls local traffic due to the corona of Secret Service security that accompanies visits by the Bidens or Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Tennessean reported that the White House sent out an media advisory in advance noting that the First Lady was slated to land in Nashville on Friday afternoon for a “political event” in Franklin, Tennessee; at the time the White House did not confirm that the event would be held at Brad and Kim Paisley’s home, but local reports said the country couple hosted Dr. Biden, as well as some other A-list country stars.
It was no surprise that the Paisleys invited Biden to fund raise at their house, since the singer joined the First Lady at a vaccine site in Nashville in 2001 to promote getting the COVID-19 shot with a brief performance. Paisley played a set at the White House for the Bidens last year at a black-tie gathering of the National Governors Association that included a performance of the new song “Same Here,” which featured audio of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At press time it did not appear that Paisley had responded to Rich, whose social media feeds are filled with tweets mocking the Biden/Harris administration. Last August, Rich released the single “I’m Offended,” which poked fun at woke culture and vaccine mandates with such lines as, “My country truck, I gas it up/ You got your fancy Tesla hooked up to a plug/ I know you’re mad, you think I’m bad/ ‘Cause I’m breathin’ free at last/ And you’re still stuck behind your mask.”
Rich — one of the only A-list artists who performed at one-term former president Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration — suggested he might pull Bud Light products from his Nashville restaurant/bar, Redneck Riviera, last year in protest after the beer brand sent a promotional, personalized six pack of cans to transgender TikTok star and influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
See Rich’s tweet below.
Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits re-enters the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Feb. 17) at No. 1, following the country superstar’s death on Feb. 5 of stomach cancer. It’s the fifth chart-topper for Keith on the all-genre chart, and first since 2010.
The best-of collection earned 66,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week ending Feb. 8 (up 953%). The album was originally released in 2008 and initially peaked at its debut rank of No. 2 on the list dated May 24, 2008. It contains 31 of Keith’s 42 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including 15 of his 20 No. 1s.
35 Biggest Hits is Keith’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since 2010’s Bullets in the Gun. He also topped the tally with Big Dog Daddy (2007), Shock’N Y’all (2003) and Unleashed (2002). During his lifetime, he logged 14 top 10-charting albums (inclusive of his five No. 1s).
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Feb. 17, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 13. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.
Of 35 Biggest Hits’ 66,000 units earned in the tracking week ending Feb. 8, SEA units comprise 46,000 (up 689%, equaling 64.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 35 songs), album sales comprise 11,000 (up 3,251%) and TEA units comprise 9,000 (up 6,966%).
35 Biggest Hits is the first posthumous No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Pop Smoke’s Faith debuted at No. 1 on the July 31, 2021, chart, following his death on Feb. 19, 2020. The last retrospective album to hit No. 1 posthumously was Prince’s The Very Best Of, which topped the chart dated May 7, 2016, following his death on April 21 of that year. 35 Biggest Hits is the first retrospective album to reach No. 1 since BTS’ Proof opened at No. 1 on the June 25, 2002 chart.
Also, as 35 Biggest Hits replaces another country album at No. 1 — Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at Time, which dips to No. 2 — it’s first time in more than nine years that one country album has replaced another at No. 1. It last happened in late October and early November of 2014, when three country albums each debuted at No. 1 and spent one week in succession: Blake Shelton’s Bringing Back the Sunshine (Oct. 18), Jason Aldean’s Old Boots, New Dirt (Oct. 25) and Florida Georgia Line’s Anything Goes (Nov. 1).
Back on the new Billboard 200, One Thing at a Time slips one spot to No. 2 with 65,000 equivalent album units (down 2%). Four more former No. 1s follow Wallen’s, as SZA’s SOS steps 6-3 (53,000; up 28%), 21 Savage’s American Dream falls 2-4 (51,000; down 16%), Taylor Swift’s Midnights rises 9-5 (51,000; up 35%) and Drake’s For All the Dogs descends 3-6 (49,000; down 4%). SZA and Swift both gain thanks in part to exposure during the Grammy Awards’ CBS-TV broadcast (Feb. 4). The former performed and won best R&B song (for SOS single “Snooze”), while the latter won two trophies (both for Midnights: album of the year and best pop vocal album).
Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 4-7 on the Billboard 200 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (though up 4%), Swift’s chart-topping 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is pushed down 5-8 with 48,000 units (up 7%) and Swift’s former leader Lover is also squeezed down despite a gain, falling 7-9 with 45,000 units (up 13%). Zach Bryan’s self-titled chart-topper rounds out the top 10, falling 8-10 with 42,000 units (while up 5%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Texas native Miranda Lambert teamed up with Leon Bridges for a romantic ballad last year, and now she’s teasing another new collaboration — this time with Latin pop star and Madrid, Spain-native Enrique Iglesias. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news On Feb. 12, the country singer posted a […]
Beyoncé formally ended long-rumored speculation about the second act of her Renaissance trilogy during the Super Bowl festivities Sunday (Feb. 11) with the release of not one but two country songs: “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
The former is a vulnerable yet empowering autobiographical ballad that finds the singer-songwriter’s melodious vocals riding along to a spare track. It’s punctuated by a hard-charging guitar during what will no doubt become another sing-along chorus for Queen Bey fans: “Sixteen carriages drivin’ away/ While I watch them ride with my dreams away/ To the summer sunset on a holy night/ On a long back road, all the tears I fight.”
That number 16 is significant: It’s how old Beyoncé was when girl group Destiny’s Child signed with Columbia Records and released its breakthrough single “No, No, No.” The song’s lyrics also carry other biographical references, such as “I saw Mama prayin’, I saw Daddy grind” and “Goin’ so hard, gotta choose myself …/ Still workin’ on my life, you know/ Only God knows.” All in all, the song paints a very visual picture of Beyoncé’s dreams and ever-evolving career and life pursuits.
On “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the Houston native turns playful alongside an uptempo, banjo-driven and folk-vibed track — accompanied by whistling at one point — for “a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown” as she and her crew head “to the dive bar we always thought was nice.” It’s about running out for a fun night on the town in lieu of sitting back and worrying about all of life’s problems. “This ain’t Texas/ Ain’t no hold ‘em/ So lay your cards down,” Beyoncé proclaims. “I’ll be d–ned if I cannot dance with you/ Come pour some sugar on me, honey, too.”
This isn’t the 32-time Grammy Award winner’s first rodeo. She presented a peek inside her country alter ego in 2016 with “Daddy Lessons.” Appearing on Lemonade, her sixth studio album, the song also featured country icons The Chicks on its promotional remix, which both acts performed live on the CMA Awards in 2016. Submitted for inclusion in the country category that year for the next Grammy Awards, “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by The Recording Academy’s country music committee.
Given that song plus Beyoncé’s Texas roots (for some, another tip-off was the cowboy hat she wore at the recent Grammys), this move across the genre aisle shouldn’t be a surprise. On Renaissance: Act 1, she reclaimed house music, a genre that Black musicians and artists had a major hand in building. And now the same for country, whose longstanding foundation was laid by Black musicians and artists as well. And before Beyoncé, R&B stars Lionel Richie and Ray Charles (another multi-genre aisle-crosser who’s also a Country Music Hall of Fame member) made their own popular, top-charting forays into country. So why not Beyoncé?
Listen to her two latest singles below:
Dolly Parton broke her silence about Elle King’s controversial performance on the Grand Ole Opry stage on Jan. 19.
During a recent interview with Extra, the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee offered her thoughts on King’s performance. “Elle is a really great artist. She’s a great girl. She’s been going through a lot of hard things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink,” Parton said of the performance.
During the Grand Ole Opry’s tribute concert for the “9 to 5” singer’s 78th back in January, King appeared on stage, where she declared that she was “f–king hammered” and forgot the lyrics to Parton’s song “Marry Me.”
In her interview, Parton offered forgiveness and support to the “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)singer, telling fans, “So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”
Following King’s performance, the Grand Ole Opry issued an apology via X, responding to one disgruntled attendee’s comment, and saying, “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.” King has yet to comment publicly on the incident.
Shortly after the Grand Ole Opry performance, King postponed a series of shows, including a concert at famous dancehall Billy Bob’s Texas.
In 2023, King released her debut country album, Come Get Your Wife, which featured the Dierks Bentley collaboration “Worth a Shot.” In addition to her 2015 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Ex’s & Oh’s,” King has two No. 1 Country Airplay hit collaborations: “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert, as well as “Different for Girls” with Bentley.
Parton, meanwhile, is promoting her Duncan Hines baking line, and celebrating the golden anniversary of one of her signature songs, her 1973 hit “Jolene.” She also recently issued a deluxe version of her Rockstar album, featuring nine bonus tracks.
Watch Dolly Parton’s full interview with Extra below:
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Cover songs lead the way in this week’s collection of newly-released songs, with Parker McCollum, Dalton Dover, Sam Williams and Carter Faith all releasing new versions of classics. Elsewhere, Nate Smith issues his latest music while his hit “World on Fire” is firmly entrenched atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
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See our roundup of the week’s best new country releases below.
Sam Williams and Carter Faith, “’Til I Can Make It On My Own”
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Wynette was honored with a Grammy lifetime achievement award as part of the Special Merit Awards ceremony, so this tribute to the late singer is timely. Newcomer Faith teams with Williams’ (whose own familial forebears, country music architects Hank Williams Sr. and Hank Williams Jr., had previously lived in the Nashville home on Franklin Pike which Wynette later purchased in 1992) as they evolve Wynette’s 1976 heartbreak classic for a new generation, while simultaneously highlighting the timelessness of its message. These two artists’ voices are like twin flames, refashioning the song as a duet — Faith’s airy, ethereal voice blending and warring with Williams’ dusky tones. The accompanying video for the Williams/Faith version pays homage with moments of gorgeous ‘70s aesthetic.
Nate Smith, “Bulletproof”
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While his smash hit “World on Fire” is burning a hole for the ninth week at the pinnacle of the Country Airplay for a ninth week, Nate releases this brimming heartache tale of a guy who’s tried every libation available to kill the memory of an ex-lover, but as he sings, her “memory is bulletproof.” His vocals tower above a thicket of rocking production that feels tailor-made for radio. Smith knows how to pour emotion into a song, confident without over-throttling a melody, putting his signature spin on this Ashley Gorley/Ben Johnson/Hunter Phelps-written track. “Bulletproof” is included on his upcoming Through the Smoke EP, out April 5.
Bri Bagwell, “The Rescue”
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A moody, tender ode of two lost souls that save each other, Bagwell wrote this song as a tribute to her rescue dog Whiskey, whom Bagwell found on the side of the road in Austin, Texas in 2019. Subtle acoustics here place Bagwell’s crystalline voice and the song’s message of unconditional love at the fore, highlighting the irreplaceable bond between rescue dogs and their owners.
Dalton Dover, Take Me Home: Covers
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Dover follows his recent cover of John Denver’s 1970s classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with a decades-spanning, three-pack project that also includes renditions of Alabama’s 1982 hit “Mountain Music” and a particularly stunning vocal display on Vince Gill’s 1995 hit “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” featuring vocals from Gill himself. He remains largely faithful to the original recordings, while even his scaled-back take on “Mountain Music” infuses the song with youthful energy and verve. Kudos to Dover for offering up this well-curated, fresh take on a collection of classics.
The Castellows, A Little Goes a Long Way
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This Georgia familial trio follows their breakthrough hits “No. 7 Road” and “Hurricane,” their inaugural major label EP, a collection of seven songs that highlight their superb harmonies and attention to lyrical detail throughout each of the tracks. The stellar, dreamy “Cowboy Kind of Love” is a standout on this collection, as is the plucky, up-tempo revenge track “Heartline Hill.” Elsewhere, the wisened acoustic-based track “The Part Where You Break My Heart” recalls early Swift song construction. Shimmery fiddle laces many of the tracks, providing an effective counterpoint to the group’s smooth harmonies. Throughout, the rhythm mostly stays in a mid-tempo lane that highlights the voices — though a few more up-tempo moments would be a nice addition to the mix. Overall, this set is an extremely promising outing.
Scoot Teasley, “This Truck Still Misses You”
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This Georgia native possesses a distinct, warm vocal quality, with a power particularly potent in his upper register. He previously broke through with “Nothing on Me.” In his latest song, Teasley sings of being in denial of missing an ex-lover, slyly placing the blame on his truck for the urge to retrace all the couple’s old haunts. Teasley wrote the song with Jon Stark and Mason Thornley, with production from Chris Utley. The track comes courtesy of Hollow Point Records.
Grace Leer, “Best Friend for Life”
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Leer releases the official video for this sweetly-sung tale tale of friendship (which Leer wrote for her friend’s wedding day), which earned millions of views via TikTok earlier this year. The song finds her chronicling a lifelong friendship, reminiscing about supporting each other through years of childhood crushes, first loves, heartbreaks and all the while, holding on to romantic hopes. Now, years later, she’s a proud champion as she watches her friend get married. This tenderhearted anthem is aleady becoming a bridesmaid favorite.
Parker McCollum, “Perfectly Lonely”
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Texan McCollum has long named John Mayer as an influence, and previously performed his cover of this Mayer classic (which was included on Mayer’s 2009 album Battle Studies) as an Amazon Music Original. Now, McCollum’s version has an even wider release. He hews pretty close to Mayer’s original here, but McCollum’s rendering has a brighter feel and of course, his signature relaxed vocal.