ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER `10, 2024. UPDATED SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
Don’t expect to see Beyoncé at the Country Music Awards. The superstar and Cecred founder received no nominations for the CMAs this year for her debut country album “Cowboy Carter”.
Released in March, Beyoncé wrote in an Instagram post that she had been working on the project for five years and that it was born out of an experience she had years ago where she did not feel welcome.
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,’ she wrote. “act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
She added, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”
Her song “Texas Hold ‘Em” became the first song by a Black female artist to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Many in the Beyhive criticized the CMAs for snubbing Bey.
However one of country music’s biggest superstars thinks otherwise. In an interview with Variety, Dolly Parton shared her thoughts on Beyoncé not receiving a nomination.
“Well, you never know. 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,” said Parton. “But I didn’t even realize that until somebody asked me that question. But it was a wonderful album. She can be very, very proud of, and I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good. So I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.”
Nominations for the CMAS were announced Sept.9. Among the nominees were Post Malone, who received four nominations.
Parton added, “I’ve been fortunate enough to be on both those albums. Well, ‘Jolene’ was in Beyoncé’s, and I thought that was a great album. She’s a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base. It wasn’t like she just appeared out of nowhere. Post Malone has loved country music his whole life, and then I got to do the duet with him on his album, and I think it’s a fantastic album. I thought both those albums were great.”
Black country artist Shaboozey is also nominated for new artist of the year. He is only the fifth Black artist ever to be recognized in the category, following Jimmie Allen and Mickey Guyton (2021), Darius Rucker (2009) and Ray Charles (1985).
Shaboozey gave Beyoncé her flowers on his X, posting “That goes without saying. Thank you @Beyonce for opening a door for us, starting a conversation, and giving us one of the most innovative country albums of all time!”
