(NEXSTAR) — Bey-haw! Just when it seemed like Beyoncé couldn’t possibly earn any more musical accolades, the 42-year-old artist earned another — her first country radio No. 1 hit.
In case you missed it, the second half of Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 was semi-upstaged by Beyoncé announcing surprise music releases via Verizon commercial. And while the release of any new Beyoncé music would upend social media, the fact that new tracks “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” are country generated even further fervor.
The tracks are the first piece of the artist’s forthcoming “Act II” album, which is part of her intended “Renaissance” trilogy of albums. The album, which will be Beyoncé’s eighth, is now expected to be entirely or majorly composed of country songs.
Despite some early controversy over country radio stations refusing to play Beyoncé, the songs are impacting country radio in a big way.
U.S. Billboard announced Tuesday that the Houston, Texas native’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at no. 1, with “16 Carriages” also charting at no. 9. This chart is based on streaming, airplay and sales, the organization says.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted on U.S. Billboard’s Country Airplay chart at no. 54 last week before creeping up to no. 50 this week. As Billboard explains, this specific chart is made up of charting data across nearly 150 country radio stations.
With the debut of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” on the country charts, Beyoncé has now hit no. 1 on seven Billboard charts as a solo artist, according to Billboard.
Beyoncé is now the first Black female artist to top the Hot Country Songs chart.
But as previously mentioned, the artist’s venture into country hasn’t been without controversy already. Although Black artists have a long influence in country music, fans of the genre have tended to skew white and conservative in recent decades — and many Black artists have found their country music sidelined by country fans and radio.
Back in 2019, rapper Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” was removed from the country charts after Billboard determined the song did not qualify as country music, as reported by Rolling Stone. Though there was fierce backlash against the decision, especially as some formats of the song featured country icon Billy Ray Cyrus, Billboard’s decision remained.
Adding into the mix are artists like Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean, who have seen enormous success after some racially involved controversies. Wallen, singer of the mega hit “Last Night,” famously saw his music streams increase 500% after video of him using the N-word was discovered. Wallen’s post-controversy success was so staggering that Rolling Stone even posited that it may have helped his career. Meanwhile, last year country superstar Jason Aldean sparked outrage over his single “Try That in a Small Town,” which many say was racist and conjured imagery of Jim Crow-era south. The controversy didn’t prevent “Try That in a Small Town” from reaching no. 1 on both the U.S. Hot Country Songs and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
It’s so far unclear whether the country music establishment will embrace Beyoncé, though we’ve already received some hints in the past.
Her newest songs actually aren’t her first foray into the genre, lest we forget 2016’s “Daddy Lessons,” which country stars The Chicks loved so much they recorded a remix. But backlash to Beyoncé in a country space followed after she joined the Chicks onstage to perform the song at the 50th annual Country Music Awards, with some viewers taking to social media to vent about how she “didn’t belong” there.
Which brings us back around to today, where, as Forbes reports, though Beyoncé has indeed charted in country, it’s no small feat that this happened at all. As of last Tuesday, only eight of the 150 stations that report to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart said they had played “Texas Hold ‘Em” in its first day. Meanwhile, none reported playing “16 Carriages.”
Given this week’s chart placement, it would appear many stations have started putting Beyoncé in the rotation after all.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma radio station KYKC, which originally responded to fan requests for the song saying that it “did not play Beyoncé as we are a country music station” reversed course after pushback. The station later elaborated that they hadn’t known Beyoncé had even released music classified as country and had sent a standard reply.
“We have nothing against Beyoncé … and we wish her the best in her foray into country music,” Roger Harris, KYKC general manager, previously told CBS News. “We actually wish that artists WOULDN’T get boxed in to certain genres or formats.”
But the 32-time Grammy Award winner isn’t without some support from the industry. On Sunday, country singer Lainey Wilson raved about the artist’s country pivot on the red carpet of the People’s Choice Awards, telling a reporter she “loved it.”
Beyoncé’s “ACT II” is scheduled to be released March 29.