Cowboy Carter
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There’s a new sheriff in town, and her name is Cowboy Carter. On Friday (Mach 29), Beyoncé finally unleashed her eighth solo studio album in its entirety. The Grammy winner first introduced her Cowboy Carter era with a pair of country singles — “16 Carriages” and Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em” — released […]
The Cowboy Carter era is almost upon us, and just a day before Beyoncé’s long-awaited country album is released on Friday (March 29), we’ve gotten a glimpse on the star-studded appearances on the project.
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The 27-track album will feature collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and Shaboozey, according to Entertainment Weekly. Additionally, Dolly Parton, Linda Martell and Willie Nelson will appear in interludes on the album’s conceptual KNTRY radio station. Cowboy Carter also includes contributions from Black country artists such as Rhiannon Giddens, Tanner Adell, and Willie Jones.
Earlier this week, Bey shared a graphic filled with what appears to be song titles from the March 29-slated record, modeled after a Western-style poster. “Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit,” reads a banner at the top.
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Alongside the names of previously released singles “16 Carriages” and the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the post also features the following titles: “Ameriican Requiem,” “Blackbiird,” “Protector,” “My Rose,” “Bodyguard,” “Daughter,” “Spaghettii,” “Alliigator Tears,” “Smoke Hour II,” “Just for Fun,” “II Most Wanted,” “Levii’s Jeans,” “Flamenco,” “Ya Ya,” “Oh Louisiana,” “Desert Eagle,” “Riiverdance,” “Tyrant,” “II Hands II Heaven,” “Sweet Honey Buckin’” and “Amen.”
Cowboy Carter marks the second act of Beyoncé’s 2022 album, Renaissance. In a March 19 Instagram post, Beyoncé both stressed that Cowboy Carter is “a continuation of Renaissance” and acknowledged the Billboard chart history she made with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she shared. “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
This ain’t Texas, but New York City is gearing up for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter release.
A number of major NYC art museums were seen with a display projected onto the front that reads, “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” as shared in photos posted by ARTnews. Among the museums with the projected ad include the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, New Museum and Museum of Arts and Design. Bey also posted a photo of the Guggenheim’s coordinates to her Instagram Story on Wednesday night (March 20).
However, in a statement to ARTNews, the Guggenheim “was not informed about and did not authorize this activation. However, we invite the public—including Beyoncé and her devoted fans—to visit the museum May 16–20 when we present projections by artist Jenny Holzer on the facade of our iconic building to celebrate the opening of her major exhibition.”
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Billboard has reached out to Beyoncé’s team, as well as the other NYC museums that featured the display for more information.
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Earlier this week, Bey shared the official album cover for Cowboy Carter, which is set to arrive on March 29. A clear continuation of her 2022 album Renaissance‘s aesthetic, the album cover for Cowboy Carter finds Queen Bey striking a pose while perched atop a white horse. She dons red, white and blue chaps, a simple white cowboy hat and platinum blonde hair as she raises the American flag.
“This album has been over five years in the making. 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,” she wrote in her post, possibly alluding to her experience performing the country-indebted “Daddy Lessons” at the 2016 CMA Awards alongside The Chicks. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.” Billboard reached out to the Country Music Association, who had no comment on Beyoncé’s March 19 Instagram post.
In her message, Beyoncé both stressed that Cowboy Carter is “a continuation of Renaissance” and acknowledged the Billboard chart history she made with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she shared. “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
Hold your horses! Beyoncé has just unveiled an exclusive limited edition album cover for her forthcoming Cowboy Carter LP, just one day after debuting the album’s eye-popping standard artwork.
On Wednesday, the 32-time Grammy winner took to her official Instagram page to share the alternate Cowboy Carter artwork — which is exclusively available for purchase through her official online webstore.
For the new cover, Beyoncé strikes a statuesque pose on a small, gray platform as she stands completely nude with nothing but a pageant sash covering her body. Her hair is braided up with red, white, and beige beads, while the completely black background echoes the artwork for the rodeo queen-nodding standard cover and the artwork for 2022’s Renaissance album.
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Yesterday (March 19), Queen Bey revealed the standard cover for Cowboy Carter, which features the singer perched backwards on a white horse mid-gallop as she raises a cropped American flag and dons red, white and blue chaps and a pageant sash that reads the album’s title.
The fact that the pageant sash is a recurring motif on both Cowboy Carter album covers was not lost on eagle-eyed fans — especially because of the name printed on the sash for the limited edition cover. Instead of “Cowboy Carter,” that sash reads “Beyincé,” a variant spelling of Tina Knowles‘ maiden name. While some social media commentators were left feeling perplexed at the name, Knowles has spoken at length about the history of her family’s name, most recently during her appearance on Heather Thomson’s In My Heart podcast in 2020.
“A lot of people don’t know that Beyoncé is my last name. It’s my maiden name,” she told Thomson. “My name was Celestine Beyoncé, which at that time was not a cool thing to have that weird name.”
According to Knowles, a businesswoman and fashion designer in her own right, she is one of a handful of people in her family with that spelling of “Beyoncé” due to a clerical error on several of their birth certificates. Her brother and his children, including award-winning songwriter Angie Beyincé, spell their surname with an “I” instead of an “O.”
“I think me and my brother Skip were the only two that had B-E-Y-O-N-C-E,” she continue. “Because we asked my mother when I was grown, I was like, ‘Why is my brother’s name spelled B-E-Y-I-N-C-E? You know, it’s all these different spellings.’ And my mom’s reply to me was, like, ‘That’s what they put on your birth certificate.’” Knowles went on to reflect on asking her mother to demand a correction, but the reality of the times were that “Black people didn’t get birth certificates.”
The new Cowboy Carter album cover brings Beyoncé’s devotion to her family’s legacy — which she sings of in Billboard Hot 100 hit “16 Carriages” (No. 38) — full circle. Now, both her married name (Carter, by way of husband Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter) and her mother’s maiden name are represented in the artwork for her upcoming album.
This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has incorporated her family names in her ventures. In 2006, she and her mother started House of Deréon, a clothing line whose name was derived from her maternal grandmother’s maiden name. Seven years later, she mounted the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in support of her Billboard 200-topping 4 and self-titled LPs, and in 2016, she launched Ivy Park, an athleisure clothing line whose name is partially inspired by her daughter’s, Blue Ivy Carter.
In addition to sharing the new Cowboy Carter album cover, Beyoncé also shared some snaps from her and Jay-Z’s exclusive annual Gold Party in celebration of the Oscars. Among the photos were a regal shot of her mother, an adorable picture of the “Crazy In Love” power couple snuggling with one and another and several gorgeous flicks showcasing yet another Western-inspired outfit from Queen Bey.
Cowboy Carter —which features “16 Carriages” and the historic Hot Country Songs chart-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em” — hits digital streaming platforms on March 29.
Check out the limited edition Cowboy Carter album cover below:
It’s officially time to saddle up! A little more than a month after making a grand pivot into country music with the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” Beyoncé has finally unveiled the official album cover for her forthcoming LP, Cowboy Carter.
A clear continuation of the Renaissance aesthetic, the album cover for Cowboy Carter finds Queen Bey striking a regal pose while perched atop a striking white horse. She dons red, white and blue chaps, a simple white cowboy hat and flowing platinum blonde locks as she raises the American flag. Like the Renaissance album artwork, the background is completely black — save for the slightly illuminated dirt road at the bottom of the frame.
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Queen Bey shared the Cowboy Carter album cover on her official Instagram page on Tuesday (March 19). In her lengthy caption, she detailed the inspiration behind her new record, which has been in the making for “five years.” Cowboy Carter is the official follow-up to 2022’s Billboard 200-topping Renaissance — a sprawling dance record that won four Grammys, housed a pair of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits in “Break My Soul” (No. 1) and “Cuff It” (No. 6) and spawned a record-breaking world tour and accompanying box office-topping documentary concert film.
“This album has been over five years in the making. 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,” she wrote, possibly alluding to her experience performing the country-indebted “Daddy Lessons” at the 2016 CMA Awards alongside The Chicks. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
At the top of 2024, Beyoncé unleashed a pair of country singles during the Super Bowl. Alongside “16 Carriages,” a gorgeous Americana-nodding ballad, Queen Bey dropped “Texas Hold ‘Em,” an irresistible country-pop tune that made her both the first Black woman to top Hot Country Songs and the first Black woman to top the Hot 100 with a country song. Despite the commercial success of “Texas,” Beyoncé did face some criticism from players in the genre — one country radio station even initially refused to play, but even they couldn’t resist “Texas.”
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she continued. “[Act II] is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work. I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect. I hope that you can hear my heart and soul, and all the love and passion that I poured into every detail and every sound.”
In her message, Beyoncé both stressed that Cowboy Carter is “a continuation of Renaissance” and acknowledged the Billboard chart history she made with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she gushed. “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
While Queen Bey has kept the Cowboy Carter visuals under lock and key — just as she did with Renaissance — the album cover reveal is one step in that direction. In fact, Beyoncé’s post coincides with the 10-day countdown until the release of Cowboy Carter — which is currently slated to drop on March 29.
“This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” she declared at the end of her message. “This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”
Check out Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album artwork below.