Beyonce Releases ‘II Most Wanted’ Duet With Miley Cyrus on ‘Cowboy Carter’ and Fans Are Here for It
Miley Cyrus has ditched flowers for cowboy hats as a featured artist on Beyoncé’s highly-anticipated new country album, Cowboy Carter, which was released on Friday, March 29.
Cyrus, 31, and Beyoncé, 42, did the surprise collaboration on new love song “II Most Wanted” that fans are already calling an "iconic classic".
The track, which is about long term relationships, kicks off with the lyrics: "Know we're jumpin' the gun, but we're both still young/ One day, we won't be/ Didn't know what I want 'til I saw your face/ Say goodbye to the old me.
"I'll be your shotgun rider 'til the day I die/ Smoke out the window flyin' down the 405/ I'll be your backseat baby, drivin' you crazy/ Anytime you like," they sing in the chorus.
Following the song's release an army of listeners flocked to social media site X to share their excitement. "Beyonce and Miley Cyrus harmonizing whew. Chef’s kiss!" wrote one fan.
"Destiny Hope and Destiny Child on the same song is history," wrote another in reference to Beyonce's former girl group Destiny's Child and Cyrus, who was born Destiny Hope."
A third said: "I need a whole Beyonce and Miley album next! Whew." While a fourth commented: "This Bey and Miley song is on repeat. It's an iconic classic."
In the song's other lyrics, they croon: "Came out of nowhere, didn't give no warnin'/ Pedal so heavy like the two most wanted/ And I don't know what you're doin' tonight."
Miley then does her solo verse singing: "Making waves in the wind with my empty hand/ My other hand on you." Beyonce joins in with, "Been a while since I haven't tried to pull away/ But it's time for something new."
It's not known if the song was inspired by their own relationships.
Beyonce has been married to hip hop mogul Jay-Z, 54, since 2008 and the couple share children Blue Ivy, 12, and Twins Rumi and Sir, six.
Cyrus has been in a romance with drummer Maxx Morando, 25, since 2021.
This isn’t the first time that the Flowers singer has shared the stage with the 32-time Grammy winner. In 2008, the duo performed together as part of a Stand Up for Cancer event, alongside Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Leona Lewis.
Looking back on that performance for her TikTok series, “Used to Be Young,” Cyrus recalled feeling the magnitude of singing with some of the musical greats.
“What I remember most from doing this performance is I was standing in between two of the big legends and icons that I was looking up to at the time, and they treated me like a little sister the entire time, they were being really sweet,” she recounted in a August 2023 video. “I got brackets on the back of my teeth, and I’m singing with Beyoncé.”
Cyrus joins an impressive lineup of star-studded performers on Cowboy Carter. The album, which features 27 tracks, includes a song with Post Malone and speaking features from Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Linda Martell. Despite a hopeful fan frenzy, Taylor Swift, The Chicks and Lady Gaga were not included on the track list.
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Beyoncé dropped the album’s songs “Texas Hold 'Em” and “16 Carriages” in February, becoming the first Black woman with a No. 1 single on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
The artist detailed her new album via a March 19 Instagram post, noting that Cowboy Carter has been “over five years in the making.” She shared a photo of herself atop a horse, decked out in a cowboy hat and holding an American flag. “[The album] was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” Beyoncé wrote. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
After teasing a few collaborations on the album, Beyoncé noted, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album. This is Act II Cowboy Carter, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”
Cowboy Carter is out now.
