People Are Divided Over Dolly Parton Defending The Country Music Association’s Decision To Give Beyoncé 0 Nominations For “Cowboy Carter”
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Beyoncé has received zero nominations at this year's Country Music Awards.
For context, Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter — which was released in March 2024 after five years in the works — was inspired by her not feeling "welcomed" into the country music space.
Years before Cowboy Carter dropped, Beyoncé — who is from Houston, Texas — faced unfair criticism from some country music fans after she performed her 2016 country song “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks at the Country Music Association Awards.
Later in 2016, Beyoncé was snubbed by the Grammy Awards' Country Music Committee, per AP News.
With all this in mind, several fans were disheartened to see Beyoncé snubbed of award nominations for her country music yet again — especially given how successful Cowboy Carter was.
Not only did Cowboy Carter spend weeks at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, making Beyoncé the first Black woman to achieve this feat, but the lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” also spent weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Amid growing backlash toward the CMA for snubbing Beyoncé, country music icon Dolly Parton has addressed the subject.
Dolly, who featured on Cowboy Carter and widely praised Beyoncé’s work, was asked about the Lemonade singer receiving zero CMA nominations during a recent interview with Variety. She replied, “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 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,” Dolly continued.
“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,” she added.
Dolly’s response to the controversy has divided internet users. While several people noted that they understood her statement, others pointed out that artist Post Malone — who, like Beyoncé, didn’t start out in country music — received numerous CMA nominations despite not having spent his whole life in the country field.
“I get exactly what Dolly meant and she tried to keep it as positive as she can. but the problem here is that the ‘they probably only nominated country artists who been doing it for whole their career’ becomes invalid when you see they nominated Post Malone but not Beyonce,” one person tweeted.
“This would make sense if Post Malone wasn’t nominated,” someone else agreed, while a third user added, “right cos Posty does country all the time (not!!) and yet he had several noms.”
Lady Gaga in a studded jacket and cowboy hat. Post Malone in a tuxedo with a hat and Morgan Wallen in a red jacket smiling at an event Beyoncé Received 0 Country Music Award Nominations After Previously Alluding To Not Being "Welcomed" ThereNatasha Jokic · Sept. 9, 2024
Here’s Why Beyoncé’s New Country Album Is Such A Big Deal After Her 2016 Song “Daddy Lessons” Was Snubbed By The Grammy Awards’ Country Music CommitteeLeyla Mohammed · Feb. 12, 2024
Three individuals smiling, middle person holding a music award, text on right details Beyonce's album 'ACT I' inspirations Beyoncé Said Her New Album Was Inspired By Not Feeling "Welcomed" In Country Music, So Here’s A Reminder Of The Intense Backlash She Received For Her 2016 Country SongJoseph Longo · March 19, 2024
