Accusing someone of “gatekeeping” is just an intellectually lazy, thought and discussion-ending enterprise designed to win arguments online as opposed to addressing the very real and systemic issues.
Beyoncé’s recently concluded “Cowboy Carter Tour” was recently declared the “Biggest Country Tour in Billboard Boxscore History.” But of course, there is an important list of caveats to this record-breaking feat.
It’s even worse when country music’s institutions recognize artists for being country when these artists don’t even recognize being country themselves, and don’t even care for the recognition.
Fundamentally, is Gavin Adcock correct when he says Beyoncé’s album ‘Cowboy Carter’ isn’t country?Absolutely he is.Is Gavin Adcock the guy we want carrying water for country music? Absolutely not.
It truly is a shame that it appears we have to bid adieu to Jon Pardi as a country music traditionalist, and one that was embedded in the mainstream no less, giving him a unique opportunity to change the music for the better.
Similar to many recent Super Bowl halftime performances, the Grammy Awards were primarily dominated by lip-synced performances and choreographic dancing without a live instrument to be seen on stage.
No, neither George Strait nor Reba McEntire spoke out about Beyoncé’s Grammy win for Best Country Album, or Best Country Duo/Group performance. There’s a good chance George Strait didn’t even know it occurred.
Oh thank God. The CMT Awards are no longer, at least for now, and likely forever. And it couldn’t have come sooner, or to a more deserving presentation. It was country music’s ugly stepchild of an awards show.
In the aftermath of Beyoncé winning the Grammy for Best Country Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards, it begs for a deeper look into the album, along with the marketing, conversation, and media coverage surrounding it
Promising to deliver a unifying moment, Carrie Underwood accomplished that very thing, despite the incredibly polarizing circumstances, and technical difficulties. And she did it through her talent, poise, and grace.
At a time when actual country performers are inspiring pop stars more than ever, it should be those country performers represented in the country categories, not the pop and hip-hop stars they’re inspiring.
‘Tis the season for ludicrous and obsequious puff pieces to hit the internet as power publicists are sent into hyperdrive attempting to garner Grammy nominations and wins for their deep-pocketed clients.
“There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that,” Parton says.
Just like many of the other details in the reporting on Beyoncé and country music, the proclamations that country radio initially rejected Beyoncé’s singles are verifiably false. On the contrary, country radio embraced “Texas Hold “Em.”
Along with clarifying that Beyoncé herself believes her upcoming release “Ain’t a country album,” she also further reiterates that the project came about from, “taking my time to bend and blend genres together…”
Using this current event as a jumping off point, numerous outlets and now viral social media posts have proclaimed that the Black influence and contributions to country music have been stricken from the history of the genre.
Maybe Beyoncé’s new songs are country, or at least, they may be more country than they are anything else. But these are decisions that need to be determined irrespective of the noise already surrounding Beyoncé’s foray into country.
With outlets now hiring dedicated staff to cover celebrity music stars, it creates a dilemma over objectivity, and runs the risk of widening the gulf between music’s haves and have nots.
A few days ago, Billboard decided to broach the subject of who should be considered “The Real Queen of the Grammys”? Adele, Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé? But they failed to regard the Grammy record of Alison Krauss.