People’s Choice Country Awards Beclowns Itself With 17 Beyoncé Nominations
Beyoncé does not consider herself a country artist, and she does not consider her 2024 album Cowboy Carter as a country album. Full stop. Saying that Cowboy Carter is a country album is a canard sown out of whole cloth by the media and Beyoncé Stans that has no basis in reality. In fact, calling Cowboy Carter a country album insults Beyoncé’s intent with the album.
This is not an opinion, or something that is up for discussion. Beyoncé herself in a March 19th, 2024 Instagram post stated in no uncertain terms, “This ain’t a country album.” She went on to say that her intent was to “bend and blend genres together.” Then there’s the inconvenient truth that the first two songs from the album—“Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”—were originally released from Beyoncé’s own record company labeled as “pop,” and exclusively sent to pop radio instead of country.
Beyoncé then reaffirmed this stance when she hired a company to expressly project her “This ain’t a country album” proclamation on the front of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City ahead of the album’s release.
There is a very good chance Beyoncé never intended for Cowboy Carter to ever be considered a country project. It’s only after the media and Stans assumed it would be country and set up those unrealistic expectations that Beyoncé appeared to comply, changing the title and cover art that was originally titled Beyince and adding new tracks to the original 19-track album last minute to accommodate public expectations, as well as the metadata for the first two tracks.
The Beyince release later became the “limited edition” version of the album, missing five tracks, including all the tracks featuring Black country performer Linda Martell.
Nonetheless, in a Hail Mary by country music’s ridiculous and fledgling fourth country award presentation called the People’s Choice Country Awards, they have attempted to court Beyoncé by making her the leading nominee for their 2024 presentation with a ridiculous 12 nominations, or 17 total when you consider her nominations as a songwriter as well. This also includes an unprecedented multiple nominations in multiple categories, and more nominations than any other performer.
In fact, the PCCA’s wanted to rack up the nominations for Beyoncé so bad, it appears they created entirely new categories in 2024 just to accommodate more nominations for her. For the first time, there will now be a “Cover Songs” category, which Beyoncé gets two nominations in for her Beatles cover of “Blackbird,” and her rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” It’s fair to note that Beyoncé’s version of “Jolene” isn’t really a “cover” with the significant lyric changes. But hey, no reason to get technical at this point.
The PCCA’s have also minted another new category called “Storyteller Song,” and lo and behold, Beyoncé gets a nomination there too for “16 Carriages.” They also split the Song of the Year category into male and female, which is a good idea on its face. This also allows Beyoncé two more nominations for “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
And since the PCCA’s are fan voted and Beyoncé commands a massive Stan army, it is very likely she will win most all of the categories she is nominated in, including Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and everything else except for the exclusively male categories, and Video and Tour categories, which are the only categories she is not nominated in.
Meanwhile, all that attention will flow to an artist that we know will not remain in the country genre, and we also know never intended to be in the country genre by her own words, taking that attention away from worthy women, men, and country artists of color.
Granted, the People’s Choice Country Awards are a virtually irrelevant startup awards show only in their second year in an already ridiculously crowded country awards show space that really are nothing more than the Grand Ole Opry “unlocking synergies” with their new corporate investor of NBC Universal. However, the way the PCCAs have decided to go so heavy behind Beyoncé could portend how the CMAs, ACMs, and the Grammy Awards handle Cowboy Carter in the future.
Make no mistake, the PCCAs should be considered the Grand Ole Opry’s award show, and it’s being broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House on Thursday, Sept. 26. The Grand Ole Opry clearly wants Beyoncé there for the presentation, and that’s what all these nominations are ultimately about.
It’s also interesting to note that last year, Morgan Wallen won three of the top awards—Artist of 2023, Album of 2023, and Concert Tour of 2023. But in a chicken move, the awards show did not broadcast these awards. The last time Wallen appeared at the Opry, it caused a major backlash from the PC crowd on social media.
The other dynamic that much of the media is overlooking or refusing to report is the catastrophic decline of Cowboy Carter in consumption since it release on March 29th. Though it debuted at #1, the album has since seen a slide from the top of the charts that can only be fairly characterized as dramatic and precipitous. Cowboy Carter currently sits at #79 on the Billboard 200. Considering all the positive press the album has received, all the accolades about the “historic” nature of the album, folks are just not listening.
Some of this lack of interest might be to blame that Beyoncé has released no major videos from the album, had no major interviews or press appearances as part of it, and has not toured behind the album at this point. But even without this stuff, this is Beyoncé. Like we see from virtually any other major artist in music, if they release an album, it sticks to the top of the charts, and often for years, especially when there are 27 tracks to create plenty of metadata spins from.
Cowboy Carter has been out for 20 weeks and is at #79. Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous has been out for 188 weeks and is at #8. Wallen’s more recent album One Thing at a Time has been out for 76 weeks and is at #4. Zach Bryan’s 2023 self-titled album has been out 51 weeks, isn’t even his newest album, and is at #12. Noah Kahan’s Stick Season has been out 90 weeks and is at #9. Taylor Swift’s Lover has been out for 260 weeks and is at #19. Rumors by Fleetwood Mac was released in 1977 and is at #33.
Iconic albums stick to the top of the Billboard charts. Cowboy Carter has done nothing but fall. Some blame the fact that Beyoncé fans buy albums and songs as opposed to stream, and this is the reason for the dramatic malaise. But the official vinyl for Cowboy Carter (not the “limited edition,” which was the original Beyince version missing five tracks), did not ship out until June 28th. By that time, Cowboy Carter had already dropped out of the Top 50, though the vinyl shipments did see her return to the Top 10 for a week, before falling out of the Top 50 once again.
Granted, awards shows don’t always showcase commercial performance. They’re supposed to be about artistic important with commercial performance factored in. But it’s inescapable to conclude that despite the exceedingly fawning press Cowboy Carter has received, people are just not listening.
Ultimately though, it appears none of this matters. Cowboy Carter is likely to sweep the PCCAs, be a big player at the CMAs in November, and will likely will the all-genre Grammy Album of the Year come early next year. As pop critic Chris Richards of The Washington Post said abut Cowboy Carter,
“It’s an album about awards shows. That’s the only way I’ve been able to process the intrinsic corniness of this new Beyoncé album, ‘Cowboy Carter,’ which, very much like the most punishing of Grammy nights, runs way too long, yet still finds time to involve Post Malone. Rumored to be her big pivot into country music, Beyoncé has headfaked us all, opting instead for an omni-genre grandeur that still only manages to feel cosmetic at best.”
Now as awards show season is approaching, it is time for Cowboy Carter‘s awards show chickens to come home to roost. It doesn’t matter if the album is not country. It doesn’t matter if nobody is listening, or if it’s any good, or having an impact culturally. The fear of the Beyhive and the media backlash for doing anything short of feting Beyoncé preordain that she must win everything.
And the musical institutions entrusted by music fans to represent their interests will let them down once again, and proclamations decreed on high from a small elite class of power brokers decide that doing anything but crowning Beyoncé queen is verboten.
You can see the full list of People’s Choice Country Awards nominations below. After Beyoncé, Zach Bryan is the leading nominee.
The People’s Artist of 2024:
1. Beyoncé
2. Jelly Roll
3. Kacey Musgraves
4. Kane Brown
5. Lainey Wilson
6. Luke Combs
7. Morgan Wallen
8. Zach Bryan
The Female Artist of 2024:
1. Beyoncé
2. Carly Pearce
3. Dolly Parton
4. Kacey Musgraves
5. Kelsea Ballerini
6. Lainey Wilson
7. Megan Moroney
8. Miranda Lambert
The Male Artist of 2024:
1. Bailey Zimmerman
2. Chris Stapleton
3. Cody Johnson
4. Jelly Roll
5. Kane Brown
6. Luke Combs
7. Morgan Wallen
8. Zach Bryan
The Group / Duo of 2024:
1. Brothers Osborne
2. Dan + Shay
3. Old Dominion
4. Ole 60
5. The Red Clay Strays
6. The War And Treaty
7. Tigirlily Gold
8. Zac Brown Band
The New Artist of 2024:
1. Chase Matthew
2. Chayce Beckham
3. Dasha
4. Koe Wetzel
5. Nate Smith
6. Shaboozey
7. Tucker Wetmore
8. Warren Zeiders
The Social Country Star of 2024:
1. Bailey Zimmerman
2. Beyoncé
3. Dolly Parton
4. Jelly Roll
5. Kelsea Ballerini
6. Luke Combs
7. Morgan Wallen
8. Reba McEntire
The Song of 2024:
1. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey (Songwriters: Collins Obinna Chibueze, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Mark Williams, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook)
2. “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha (Songwriters: Adam Wendler, Anna Dasha Novotny, Cheyenne Rose Arnspiger, Kenneth Travis Heidelman)
3. “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Austin Post, Chandler Paul Walters, Ernest Smith, Hoskins, Louis Bell, Morgan Wallen, Ryan Vojtesak)
4. “I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Kacey Musgraves, Zach Bryan)
5. “Miles On It” – Marshmello & Kane Brown (Songwriters: CASTLE, Connor McDonough, Earwulf, Jake Torrey, Kane Brown, Marshmello, Nick Gale, Riley McDonough)
6. “Pink Skies” – Zach Bryan (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
7. “Texas Hold ‘Em” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Beyoncé, Brian Bates, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro, Raphael Saadiq)
8. “Wild Ones” – Jessie Murph feat. Jelly Roll (Songwriters: Feli Ferraro, Gregory Aldae Hein, Jason Deford, Jeff Gitelman, Jessie Murph)
The Female Song of 2024:
1. “16 Carriages” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Atia Boggs, Beyoncé, Dave Hamelin, Ink, Raphael Saadiq)
2. “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha (Songwriters: Adam Wendler, Anna Dasha Novotny, Cheyenne Rose Arnspiger, Kenneth Travis Heidelman)
3. “Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves)
4. “Hang Tight Honey” – Lainey Wilson (Songwriters: Driver Williams, Jason Nix, Lainey Wilson, Paul Sikes)
5. “Hummingbird” – Carly Pearce (Songwriters: Carly Pearce, Jordan Reynolds, Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally)
6. “No Caller ID” – Megan Moroney (Songwriters: Connie Harrington, Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon, Megan Moroney)
7. “Texas Hold ‘Em” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Beyoncé, Brian Bates, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nathan Ferraro, Raphael Saadiq)
8. “Wranglers” – Miranda Lambert (Songwriters: Audra Mae, Evan McKeever, Ryan Carpenter)
The Male Song of 2024:
1. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey (Songwriters: Collins Obinna Chibueze, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Mark Williams, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook)
2. “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album)” – Luke Combs (Songwriters: Jessi Alexander, Jonathan Singleton, Luke Combs)
3. “Bulletproof” – Nate Smith (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps)
4. “Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson (Songwriter: Josh Phillips)
5. “I Can Feel It” – Kane Brown (Songwriters: Gabe Foust, Jaxson Free, Kane Brown, Phil Collins)
6. “Let Your Boys Be Country” – Jason Aldean (Songwriters: Allison Veltz Cruz, Jaron Boyer, Micah Wilshire)
7. “Pink Skies” – Zach Bryan (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
8. “Take Her Home” – Kenny Chesney (Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Michael Hardy, Zach Abend)
The Group / Duo Song of 2024:
1. “Break Mine” – Brothers Osborne (Songwriters: John Osborne, Pete Good, Shane McAnally, TJ Osborne)
2. “Different About You” – Old Dominion (Songwriters: Brad Tursi, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Zach Crowell)
3. “For The Both of Us” – Dan + Shay (Songwriters: Andy Albert, Dan Smyers, Jordan Reynolds)
4. “I Tried A Ring On” – Tigirlily Gold (Songwriters: Josh Jenkins, Kendra Jo Slaubaugh, Krista Jade Slaubaugh, Pete Good)
5. “Love You Back” – Lady A (Songwriters: Emily Weisband, James McNair, Lindsay Rimes)
6. “Smoke & A Light” – Ole 60 (Songwriters: Jacob Ty Young, Justin Eckerd, Ryan Laslie, Tristan Roby)
7. “Tie Up” – Zac Brown Band (Songwriters: Ben Simonetti, Chris Gelbuda, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Hoge, Zac Brown)
8. “Wanna Be Loved” – The Red Clay Strays (Songwriters: Dakota Coleman, Matthew Coleman)
The Collaboration Song of 2024:
1. “Blackbiird” – Beyoncé, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts (Songwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
2. “Can’t Break Up Now” – Old Dominion & Megan Moroney (Songwriters: Emily Weisband, Matthew Ramsey, Tofer Brown, Trevor Rosen)
3. “Chevrolet” – Dustin Lynch feat. Jelly Roll (Songwriters: Chase McGill, Hunter Phelps, Jessi Alexander, Mentor Williams)
4. “Hey Driver” – Zach Bryan feat. The War And Treaty (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
5. “I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Kacey Musgraves, Zach Bryan)
6. “Mamaw’s House” – Thomas Rhett feat. Morgan Wallen (Songwriters: Chase McGill, Matt Dragstrem, Morgan Wallen, Thomas Rhett)
7. “The One (Pero No Como Yo)” – Carin Leon & Kane Brown (Songwriters: Bibi Marin, Edgar Barrera, Elena Rose, Johan Sotelo, Jonathan Capeci, Julio Ramirez, Kane Brown, Oscar Armando Diaz de Leon)
8. “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley feat. Riley Green (Songwriters: Aaron Raitiere, Ella Langley, Riley Green)
The Cover Song of 2024:
1. “Blackbiird” – Beyoncé, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts (Songwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
2. “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other” – Orville Peck & Willie Nelson (Songwriter: Ned Sublette)
3. “Dancing with Myself” – Maren Morris (Songwriters: Billy Idol, Tony James)
4. “Jolene” – Beyoncé (Songwriter: Dolly Parton)
5. “Perfectly Lonely” – Parker McCollum (Songwriter: John Mayer)
6. “Sun to Me” – MGK (Songwriters: Zach Bryan)
7. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” – Lana Del Rey (Songwriters: Bill Danoff, John Denver, Taffy Nivert)
8. “Three Little Birds (Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film)” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Bob Marley & The Wailers)
The Crossover Song of 2024:
1. “Better Days” – Zach Bryan feat. John Mayer (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
2. “Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini feat. Noah Kahan (Songwriters: Alysa Vanderheym, Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan)
3. “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Austin Post, Chandler Paul Walters, Ernest Smith, Hoskins, Louis Bell, Morgan Wallen, Ryan Vojtesak)
4. “II Most Wanted” – Beyoncé & Miley Cyrus (Songwriters: Beyoncé, Michael Pollack, Miley Cyrus, Ryan Tedder)
5. “Lonely Road” – mgk feat. Jelly Roll (Songwriters: Bill Danoff, Brandon Allen, Colson Baker, John Denver, Mary Danoff, Nick Long, Steve Basil, Taffy Nivert Danoff, Travis Barker)
6. “Midnight Ride” – Kylie Minogue, Orville Peck & Diplo (Songwriters: Christopher Stracey, Kylie Minogue, Marta Cikojevic, Orville Peck)
7. “Miles On It” – Marshmello & Kane Brown (Songwriters: CASTLE, Connor McDonough, Earwulf, Jake Torrey, Kane Brown, Marshmello, Nick Gale, Riley McDonough)
8. “My Fault” – Shaboozey feat. Noah Cyrus (Songwriters: Bailey Bryan, Collins Obinna Chibueze, Doug Walters, Nevin Sastry, Noah Cyrus, PJ Harding, Sean Cook)
The New Artist Song of 2024:
1. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey (Songwriters: Collins Obinna Chibueze, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Mark Williams, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook)
2. “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha (Songwriters: Adam Wendler, Anna Dasha Novotny, Cheyenne Rose Arnspiger, Kenneth Travis Heidelman)
3. “Betrayal” – Warren Zeiders (Songwriters: Ali Tamposi, Blake Pendergrass, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Justin Ebach, Warren Zeiders)
4. “Bulletproof” – Nate Smith (Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps)
5. “Devil You Know” – Tyler Braden (Songwriters: Graham Barham, Jon Hall, Sam Martinez, Zack Dyer)
6. “Sweet Dreams” – Koe Wetzel (Songwriters: Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Josh Serrato, Ropyr Wetzel, Sam Nelson Harris)
7. “Tennessee Don’t Mind” – Kameron Marlowe (Songwriters: Charles Kelley, Daniel Tashian)
8. “Wind Up Missin’ You” – Tucker Wetmore (Songwriters: Chris LaCorte, Thomas Archer, Tucker Wetmore)
The Storyteller Song of 2024:
1. “16 Carriages” – Beyoncé (Songwriters: Atia Boggs, Beyoncé, Dave Hamelin, Ink, Raphael Saadiq)
2. “Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves)
3. “Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson (Songwriter: Josh Phillips)
4. “Pink Skies” – Zach Bryan (Songwriter: Zach Bryan)
5. “Sorry Mom” – Kelsea Ballerini (Songwriters: Alysa Vanderheym, Hillary Lindsey, Jessie Jo Dillon, Karen Fairchild, Kelsea Ballerini)
6. “The Little Things” – George Strait (Songwriters: Bubba Strait, George Strait, Monty Criswell)
7. “The Man He Sees in Me” – Luke Combs (Songwriters: Josh Phillips, Luke Combs)
8. “Too Good to be True” – Kacey Musgraves (Songwriters: Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Anna Nalick, Kacey Musgraves)
The Album of 2024:
1. Cowboy Carter – Beyoncé
2. Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves
3. Fathers & Sons – Luke Combs
4. Higher – Chris Stapleton
5. Highway Desperado – Jason Aldean
6. Leather – Cody Johnson
7. Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going – Shaboozey
8. Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan
The Music Video of 2024:
1. “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album)” – Luke Combs
2. “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” – Dasha
3. “Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves
4. “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen
5. “Let It Burn” – Shaboozey
6. “Lonely Road” – MGK feat. Jelly Roll
7. “Miles On It” – Marshmello & Kane Brown
8. “Pour Me A Drink” – Post Malone feat. Blake Shelton
The Concert Tour of 2024:
1. “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour” – Luke Combs
2. “Highway Desperado Tour” – Jason Aldean
3. “One Night At A Time 2024” – Morgan Wallen
4. “Shania Twain: Come On Over – The Las Vegas Residency – All The Hits!” – Shania Twain
5. “Stadium Tour” – George Strait
6. “Standing Room Only Tour ‘24” – Tim McGraw
7. “Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour” – Kenny Chesney
8. “The Quittin Time 2024 Tour” – Zach Bryan
August 15, 2024 @ 8:45 am
I thought better of the opry. It’s a shame.
August 15, 2024 @ 8:13 pm
“unlocking synergies”
August 15, 2024 @ 8:49 am
I’m not gonna stand for this cultural appropriation.
August 16, 2024 @ 4:00 pm
Cultural appropriation is deemed OK when it takes from historically White sources.
August 15, 2024 @ 8:54 am
I’m interested cause this goes against what I had concluded but you’re more in on this than me. But I had assumed what happened with Beyoncé is she wanted to do a country album but they found out in the process of doing that making good country music is harder than they thought. So they pivoted back into what they knew.
So that’s interesting if the country elements were actually tacked onto something totally different. But yeah it seems the point of this album was to win album of the year at the Grammys something which does plainly bother Beyoncé to have not won. So this was what she thought voters wanted.
Which is lame as a way to make music. Ultimately my big takeaway from cowboy Carter is I wish she had actually done the thing. Would have been interesting. Also please Miley Cyrus make an actually country album someday. It would be so good.
August 15, 2024 @ 11:24 am
I agree it would have been cool if Beyonce had taken the idea of recording a country album seriously, truly showcased the Black roots within country music, and made an album we could all enjoy, and could highlight the virtues of country music to a wider audience. But that is not what she did, or she did very little of that for it to in any way be culturally significant. And I almost feel like I’m living in a bizzaro world where everyone has bought into the narrative that she did do this while completely ignoring all evidence to the contrary and Beyonce’s own words.
To me, this is a huge opportunity missed, especially with her follow through. There is just no way you can say that an album from what is supposed to be the biggest superstar in the world sliding to #79 in the charts after 20 weeks is a success.
August 15, 2024 @ 3:46 pm
This is just my theory here, but I think COWBOY CARTER was Beyonce’s way of manufacturing a controversy; and whether or not it was/is a massive seller, I think she has succeeded rather well in that. In fact, she probably succeeded even more than she may have intended.
Her statement about COWBOY CARTER not being a country album seems to me to have been her way of gaslighting the world in general, the media in particular, and the country music fan base specifically. She knows that the very mention of her name, or her nickname (Queen Bey), produces a Pavlovian reaction among certain peoples, including some of those on this dais. She is pushing people’s emotional buttons, and she doesn’t give a damn about what their reaction is, so long as they REACT, all the while being aided and abetted by her vast following of Queen Bey “Stans”.
Nothing she’s doing is really anything new, by the way. She’s just pushing it to an extreme degree that makes even Taylor Swift (irritating vocal mannerisms and all) seem “sane” by comparison (IMHO).
August 16, 2024 @ 4:04 pm
Trigger,
You aren’t getting it. She did exactly what all those worshippers wanted. She produced an album with enough country elements to justify all those hit pieces. Your mistake is thinking that all those critics are honest about these topics. They aren’t. The music is irrelevant. The narrative is what matters.
August 15, 2024 @ 9:05 am
Speaking of the Opry, it hosted a big bash for Post Malone “and friends” last night, streamed live on YouTube. Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, John Michael Montgomery and Lainey Wilson were involved, and ol’ Posty got himself all duded up in a cowboy hat and a reasonable facsimile of a Nudie suit. Musically, it was decent and respectful overall, but I’m just not getting the appeal of Post’s voice as a country instrument.
Anyway, I suppose his album, due out on Friday, will dominate next year’s awards. At least he is saying that it’s going to be a country album.
August 15, 2024 @ 11:11 am
Everyone is burnt out on Post coverage because he’s everywhere and it’s kind of annoying, but I will give him some more credit. He did a full set of mostly 90s Country covers for his Outside Lands set, opening with “A Country Boy Can Survive” and closing with “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue”, in the middle of a park in San Francisco.
That takes some balls.
https://youtu.be/YB2BB6_03Og?si=ZW69yBNXWE-KwczZ
August 15, 2024 @ 3:45 pm
He sang “One More Last Chance” with Vince and “Be My Baby Tonight” with John Michael on the Opry show and didn’t disgrace himself. I have no problem with the people he’s associating with and he certainly seems to be a fan of some of the better mainstream country artists. But yes, he’s everywhere and is getting a huge industry push at the expense of more deserving artists who’ve been banging at the country radio door for years trying to get airplay. And frankly, while I like Luke Combs and can generally tolerate Morgan Wallen, his current duets with both do nothing for me.
August 16, 2024 @ 10:31 am
Don’t forget the War and Treaty. I was glad to see him give them such great recognition.
August 16, 2024 @ 4:05 pm
I hope for their sake there wasn’t a song mentioning cotton.
August 15, 2024 @ 9:43 am
I got a migraine just reading the list of nominations. WTF is a “Shaboozy?”
August 15, 2024 @ 10:53 am
Ridiculous as it is expected.
However, really glad to see Ole 60 getting some love! Well deserved, and a long time coming. Making big waves soon!
August 15, 2024 @ 11:32 am
Is this a correct assumption?
The general population want to be associated with Country Music because it is cool and different, yet they really don’t want to play traditional Country Music like so many wonderful artists found on SCM.
Thoughts?
August 15, 2024 @ 11:56 am
Terry that’s kinda complicated. The Nashville industry that serves up ” music” to radio for top 40 airplay, lives in a delusional reality. They assume the audience they serve is primarily interested in music with strong hip- hop influences. They want to be relavant to young people. That’s partially true but partially wrong. They are overlooking the Childers and now Zach Bryan story, which clearly shows you don’t need hip- hop sounds to be relevant to younger listeners. That said though, there are a lot of youth in the south and rural areas that do like the more synthetic, modern 808 and electronic sounds.
As for the SCM crowd in general, they don’t give a rip about any of us. Anyone over 40, definitely forget them. Their dinosaurs, albeit a very large demographic with cash, willing to pay for the good stuff, but these dimwitted record company execs don’t see that. We don’t exist. As for the shameful pandering to Beyonce, it’s a case of ” the emperor has no clothes.” How dare you speak against the emperor. He has beautiful garments. No he doesnt….and so it goes. It isn’t country! Yes it is…how dare you speak against the great one. It’s not only country, it’s the album of the year…No it isn’t, she said it wasn’t country…shut your mouth, it’s country. We are awarding her everything. She’s the queen. Besides, it proves we aren’t racists. It’s country. Now get out of the way dinosaur.
August 15, 2024 @ 1:05 pm
There are definitely a lot of artists at the moment that like the idea of adopting country music as a motif, meaning cowboy hats, horses, etc., but don’t really have any interest or knowledge in actual country music. It’s like Shaboozey claiming you can’t have bluegrass without a 12-string guitar.
Meanwhile, you have performers like Zach Top who’ve literally devoted their entire lives to the music, actually happen to be exploding in popularity, and he can’t even get a “New Artist” nomination after they expanded the field to eight.
Beyonce, Shaboozey, and others will be gone from country in the next year or two. Zach Top will always be here.
August 15, 2024 @ 5:10 pm
Amen!!!
August 15, 2024 @ 12:26 pm
Honestly – Beyonce’s music is as country, and a lot better than a lot of the pop country garbage in scope for these award shows. Will definately be an upgrade in enterrtainment if they can get her to perform at the show.
August 15, 2024 @ 12:44 pm
This is incorrect, though I see this opinion come up commonly with this topic.
It’s no longer 2014. Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, and Sam Hunt are not the biggest artists in country music. It’s Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Zach Bryan, Chris Stapleton, and Morgan Wallen. There is no comparing this music to really any of those.
August 16, 2024 @ 10:43 am
The biggest? No. But still regularly in the top ten songs. Hell, tipsy is #1 on billboard hot country (can’t see the rest of the list). Country music is trending the right way, but country radio is still cancer, just like stage 3 instead of 4.
August 15, 2024 @ 12:31 pm
Buckle up kids “Country music doesn’t like black people” is back on the table if Beyonce doesn’t win major awards on this. What a clown show
August 16, 2024 @ 4:07 pm
The top country 40 could be 39 black artists and those articles would still be written.
August 15, 2024 @ 1:30 pm
I agree the award nominations are quite excessive and I’m not too surprised of the drop off in streaming numbers. Its a record that hit big initially with a number one release and since Beyonce hasn’t really done any press, music videos, hot wings ha, late night interviews, nor tour announcements since the release date the attention swiftly moved on to the next pop star like it always does. In comparison to Post Malone who is practically everywhere whether its television performances or on tour and hitting the festival circuit. I think Post is fully onboard in making his album huge given his collaborations right out of the gate. I think Beyonce could have too which is my biggest disappointment. I wanted more out of the project than perhaps she did.
August 15, 2024 @ 4:04 pm
I do think that “Cowboy Carter” would be doing better if there was a concerted push behind it at radio, with videos, and public appearances. But even without that stuff, and album from what is supposed to be one of the biggest global superstars, if not THE biggest global superstar should at the worst be in the Top 50 20 weeks after its release. The implosion of “Cowboy Carter” in my opinion is the biggest news story in music in 2024, but nobody wants to tell that story because they’ll get attacked.
I have a couple of theories here. One, maybe Beyonce feels alienated by all of the narratives that were lumped upon “Cowboy Carter,” and so she didn’t know what else to do but to stay silent and/or distance. Two, there is no use promoting a dud. Maybe their focus group listens and other things were giving off negative feedback despite all the positive press, and they didn’t see promotion as a good investment. Third, maybe Beyonce though the album would speak for itself and needed no promotion.
Either way, it is extremely hard to justify 17 nominations for an album that is not really a player in the national narrative, and really wasn’t 60 days after its release, especially in a genre where it doesn’t even belong.
August 15, 2024 @ 1:35 pm
The pity of all this is that I discovered I’m wasting all this money and streaming time on Charlie Crockett, Billy Strings, George Dearborne, Sierra Ferrell, Red Shahan, Tyler and the Train robbers…
Trig, I blame you for not helping me stand with the People’s Choices.
Thanks. I appreciate it a lot.
August 15, 2024 @ 2:14 pm
I’ve heard a few of the songs from her album on our local Iheart “country” station. It wasn’t much worse than anything else they were playing, but wasn’t good. No wonder they lost $988 million last quarter
August 15, 2024 @ 4:08 pm
Poor little two at folks all update lol. You’re one of the reason is still so big and selling out stadiums lol…
August 15, 2024 @ 5:09 pm
Huh?
August 15, 2024 @ 4:32 pm
And just you wait for three months of Beyonce v Taylor for the Grammy Awards next year, no doubt hyped to oblivion and denying oxygen to dozens of acts who aren’t billionaires. You can start drafting that Op-Ed.
August 16, 2024 @ 3:27 pm
World Series of BeyTay
August 15, 2024 @ 6:00 pm
“We smoke marijuana in Wakanda. We also take trips on LSD”
August 15, 2024 @ 6:29 pm
I hope Beyonce does not win any awards for People’s Choice, CMA, and Grammys due to the album being the worst. In addition, Beyonce is not going to be country because she has experience with pop and R&B does not mean you can cross over to country and destroy this genre.
August 16, 2024 @ 10:38 am
She’s going to rack up at the PCCMABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP awards based solely on the fact that they’re all “fan voted.” This means that either A) the beyhive (God in heaven, I hate that term) is going to flood the votes so they can yell “YAAAS QUEEN” or whatever or B) The powers that be are going to make sure that she wins because they’ll get some mainstream attention and pander a bit.
August 15, 2024 @ 7:00 pm
Random but just thought of this Beyonce claiming from day one that “this isn’t a country album” gives her team a built in excuse if it doesn’t win awards in country. I’m sure they want awards because it will bring numbers back up, but worst case they got a way out.
August 15, 2024 @ 9:45 pm
How can someone feel ok with being pandered to like this? It’s embarrassing.
August 16, 2024 @ 4:09 pm
People are told to accept it, otherwise, they are cast out of the tribe.
Exile is a primeval human fear.
August 15, 2024 @ 11:45 pm
It was probably worth mentioning that the act with the most nominations also doesn’t consider themselves a country musician.
August 16, 2024 @ 4:28 am
…nothing triggers trigger like that beyoncé statement. never gets old.
August 16, 2024 @ 8:17 am
I’m not “triggered” by her statement at all. I find it critically important and relevatory. And unlike the rest of media who is ignoring it, I am listening to Beyonce, working to understand her artistic intent, and understand that by trying to fit “Cowboy Carter” in a country music box, it is insulting to her artistry. One of my theories of why she released this album, and then shortly pulled all promotion from it and disappeared from the public is because Beyonce feels alienated in this entire process. “Cowboy Carter” is not a country album, including by Beyonce’s estimation. So how did she just receive more nominations than any other artist for a country awards show?
August 16, 2024 @ 12:59 pm
Trigger isn’t triggered, he’s writing about a pop giant being treated like she’s made of glass by the industry and her cult-like fan base.
In truth, nothing triggers Beyonce fans like someone like Trig pointing out the fact she’s not a country artist, and her supposed ‘country’ music blows (my take, not his, which I’m sure somehow makes me racist).
You like her, Tom, awesome. But you’re in the wrong place if you’re looking for people who share your opinion.
August 16, 2024 @ 4:56 am
It’s painfully obvious, but never really explicitly acknowledged, that the real purpose of all this is to Dei every space that is historically coded as white/rural/chud. They don’t give a crap about country music. What they’re really interested in, is sneering at the class of people they hate and saying with an award, “look.. a black woman does your thing better than you!” They get absolutely gleeful about it and it should be called out for what it is at bottom. Anti-white hatred.
August 16, 2024 @ 7:28 am
Country music might be “coded” as White, but Black people have been contributing to the genre since the beginning. Beyonce’s album could have been an illustration of that, and that is the way it was sold by a lot of the media. But for all the talk about how “the banjo is a Black instrument,” only one of 27 songs featured it. And how effective can a release be on the greater populous when it’s sitting at #79 on the charts?
August 16, 2024 @ 3:52 pm
Trigger,
The people praising this album don’t care about Bailey, Rucker, Charles, Pride, or the banjo.
Beyonce merely released it, and that was all that mattered.
Pointing out their hypocrisy won’t shame them. They don’t care.
August 16, 2024 @ 3:49 pm
The only purpose of DEI is to terraform anything that isn’t deemed kosher by the ruling elites.
No amount of appeasement will satisfy them.
August 16, 2024 @ 5:53 am
The People’s Choice Country Awards is owned by NBC/Universal. That’s all you really need to know.
August 16, 2024 @ 8:34 am
As Kershaw said, “Country music hates itself.”
It wants so badly to be included by the popular crowd. As insecure as a Taylor Swift protagonist.
August 16, 2024 @ 8:00 pm
Forget Beyonce, I’m more interested in how Phil Collins got a writing credit for the Kane Brown song
August 16, 2024 @ 8:11 pm
Poor Phil, did they “borrow” from one of his songs and have to give him a credit? If I had Phil’s money, I’d be pissed and sue to have my name removed. Hahahaha.
August 17, 2024 @ 12:03 pm
Kane and his co-conspirators, er, writers, borrowed from “In the Air Tonight.” Collins had to get a credit, just as the late David Bowie got one on the Chris Brown song with the “Rebel Rebel” riff and Willie Nelson got one on “On the Boat Again,” Jake Owen’s song.
August 17, 2024 @ 12:33 am
hopefully my new album will come out by the end of the year and i want to say it now , just in case i will get promoted for an award. Mine is NOT a reggae album.
September 10, 2024 @ 4:24 pm
that’s hilarious!!
August 17, 2024 @ 11:10 am
Beyonce must be a Statler Brothers fan, the song “How To Be A Country Star” is a road map for success.
September 10, 2024 @ 4:25 pm
the fact that this abomination is taking up space on this site is abhorrent.