Karu F. Daniels | New York Daily News
It was expected that Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” would top the Billboard 200 albums chart, and it did. But its debut at the top of the country charts is historic.
Beyoncé, a 32-time Grammy winner, released “Cowboy Carter” on March 29. It’s the first album by a Black woman to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, according to Rolling Stone.
With 407,000 equivalent album units — her biggest sales week since 2016’s “Lemonade” — “Cowboy Carter” represents the best sales week for a country album since Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” which dropped last July.
Before the album’s release, the former Destiny’s Child frontwoman stated that it wasn’t a “country album” but rather a “Beyoncé album.” However, she included contributions from country music pioneers like Linda Martell, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson, as well as popular artists like Miley Cyrus and Post Malone, and lesser-known Black country artists such as Willie Jones, Tanner Addell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, and Shaboozey.
Despite controversy over airplay on country music radio stations, the album’s lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” also made history on the Hot Country Songs chart.
In a detailed statement on March 19, she expressed her honor for being the first Black woman with a number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart.
She continued: “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me.”
Beyonce’s success in the country music format could be seen as vindication after she faced racially-charged backlash in 2016 when she performed “Daddy Lessons” with the Dixie Chicks at the 50th annual CMA Awards.New York Daily News-entertainment
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