Beyoncé Knowles-Carter doesn’t just have the internet buzzing about her new album “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” celebrities on the yellow carpet of the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards also raved about her new country music.
“Just when you think she can’t go to the next level, she goes there,” said Doechii, who was nominated for three awards. “I think it’s amazing, and I want to see more Black cowgirls and cowboys out there.”
She was “blown away” by “Cowboy Carter” and appreciates how Beyoncé has crossed over into different genres throughout her career.
The superstar herself was set to appear at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles for the awards show, scheduled to air at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Beyoncé will receive one of the night’s top honors, the Innovator Award, just days after her the album came out on Friday.
Country artist Lainey Wilson, who was nominated twice, said she was “jamming” to “II Most Wanted” featuring Miley Cyrus.
“I’m excited to see the fans that didn’t know they liked country music find out that maybe they like it a little bit,” Wilson said. “I’m all about seeing country music grow right now.”
Blanco Brown, a Black country music artist, said he hadn’t had a chance to listen to “Cowboy Carter” yet but he liked the single “Texas Hold ‘Em.” He hopes more Black artists will find success in the genre going forward.
“I just want to get to a point where it don’t feel like we have room for one or two, and it’s just music, it speaks for itself,” Brown said. “I’m going to keep creating. That’s my purpose.
The Black Music Action Coalition released a report in 2022 called “Three Chords & the Actual Truth” about the history of systemic racism in the country music industry. The group’s co-founder Willie “Prophet” Stiggers said this was the first Beyoncé album he had listened to from beginning to end and it was “phenomenal.”
“What Beyoncé has done I think is remarkable, not only what she has done for herself but the fact that there are six new Black artists streaming on Spotify,” Stiggers said. “It’s an indication of the audience and the appetite that black people have for country music.”
The groundbreaking country music project took over social media and became Spotify’s most-streamed album in single day in 2024.
The Innovator Award is given to one artist who continuously contributes to pop culture and the music industry, according to iHeartRadio.
“Few artists in the course of history have taken creative risks, successfully transformed their music and influenced pop culture on the level that Beyoncé has,” an iHeartRadio news release stated. “Throughout the years, the global cultural icon has created music that has topped the charts across multiple formats, while also architecting groundbreaking tours, including last year’s RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR — the highest-grossing tour in history for both an R&B artist and a Black female artist.”
The award show is hosted by Ludacris and will air 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Fox. It will also broadcast on iHeartMedia radio stations worldwide and the iHeartRadio app.
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
