Dolly Parton has shared her thoughts on Beyoncé‘s country album ‘Cowboy Carter’ being snubbed at the Country Music Awards (CMAs) – see what the country icon had to say below.
- READ MORE: Beyoncé – ‘Cowboy Carter’ review: country reinvention strikes gold
Earlier this month, the nominees for the 2024 Country Music Awards were revealed and shocked fans by not putting Beyoncé up for any awards.
In a new chat with Variety, Parton spoke of ‘Cowboy Carter’ not scoring any nominations at the CMAs: “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. But I didn’t even realize that until somebody asked me that question.”
Parton continued: “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.”
After the CMA nominations were revealed, several musicians came forth to voice their support of Beyoncé – Shaboozey worked on ‘Spaghetti’ from ‘Cowboy Carter’ said: “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!”
Beyoncé’s father, Matthew Knowles, also spoke about his daughter not being recognised at this year’s CMAs. He told TMZ: “There’s more white people in America and unfortunately they don’t vote based on ability and achievements, it’s still sometimes a white and black thing” – insinuating that there was some sort of racial bias behind the decision.
Some fans online found it hypocritical that Post Malone – originally a pop-rap artist – was nominated for Single Of The Year, Musical Event Of The Year and Music Video Of The Year at the 2024 CMAs for his chart-topping single, ‘I Need Some Help’ with Morgan Wallen. He has only released one country album throughout his career, this year’s ‘F-1 Trillion’.
The 2024 Country Music Awards will air on November 20 on the USA network ABC.
Following the initial release of ‘Cowboy Carter’, Beyoncé shared a remix of ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’, and revealed that she kept much of the original backing track from the original 1968 version of ‘Blackbird’ in her cover. She also confirmed that Stevie Wonder played harmonica on ‘Jolene’, and RAYE was credited as a co-writer on one ‘Cowboy Carter’ song.
Outside of music, the ‘Single Ladies’ singer recently showed her support of renowned US gymnast Simone Biles amid the 2024 Paris Olympics – recording a promotional video for NBC Sports, hailing her as both “inspiring” and “brilliant”, and launched a new brand of whiskey, inspired by her grandfather.
‘Cowboy Carter’ was given a five-star review by NME, which read: “In the age of stan culture, sceptics will argue that objective criticism of Beyoncé can feel hard to come by. Those who don’t already love country may find some of ‘Cowboy Carter’s balladeering sections to be a little long, or query whether an artist of Beyoncé’s stature is invoking certain ironies when she rallies her audience to “stand for something”, given her own relative quiet on recent political affairs.
“But even if interpreted only on the grounds of artistic spectacle, it’s an undeniable thrill to see her swing so big on a project that dares her to be so intimate and vocal-focused, while making way for country’s up-and-comers too.”
