Last week, Beyoncé released “Cowboy Carter” a 27-track country album that revolutionized the genre and has already made history. Fans clearly can’t get enough of this album, which has already broken streaming records on several platforms.
Spotify announced last week on social media that on the album’s release day, Friday March 29, it had become the platform’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.
“Cowboy Carter” also won the title for most first-day streams of a country album by a female artist on Amazon Music. The album also saw Beyoncé’s biggest debut on the streaming platform, Amazon Music shared on social media.
Prior to the album’s release, Beyoncé released two singles on Super Bowl Sunday: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”. The premiere debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts, making Beyoncé the first black woman to top that chart, according to Billboard.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” itself bends genres, landing on nine U.S. charts, including pop, adult alternative, country, rhythm, urban and R&B.
The album debuted at number 2 on the Apple Music charts and 26 of the 27 songs are currently in the streaming service’s top 100.
Beyoncé, a Houston native who also executive produced the album, said in a statement that it was “the best music I’ve ever made.”
The album features collaborations with stars like Miley Cyrus and versions of iconic songs like Dolly Parton’s 1973 hit “Jolene.” Parton and Willie Nelson also lend their voices to the album’s vignettes, as do Linda Martell, the first commercially successful black country artist.
Beyoncé also covers the Beatles’ 1968 song “Blackbird,” featuring black country singer-songwriters Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. Her song “Protector” features audio from her 6-year-old daughter, Rumi, and she collaborates on two songs with rapper Shaboozey.
She also samples Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 song “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” on the track “Ya Ya”.
Sinatra reacted to the song on social networkswriting: “Having a little piece of one of my records in a @Beyonce song is very meaningful to me because I love her. She represents what’s great about music today and I’m thrilled to “be a small part of it. This might be the best single from ‘Boots’ to date! And the beat keeps going.”
Parton also posted about Beyoncé’s cover of “Jolene,” a derogatory song whose lyrics warn a woman to stay away from her man. “Beyoncé is giving this girl a hard time and she deserves it,” Parton wrote.
Caitlin O’Kane
Grub5
