Beyoncé Makes History as the First Black Woman to Dominate the Hot Country Songs Chart

beyonce makes history


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If there’s one thing we admire about Beyoncé, it’s her natural ability to switch between music genres, be it pop, dance/electronic or R&B. And now, thanks to her latest foray into country, the 42-year-old Grammy winner has made history with her latest hit, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

In case you missed it, the country-pop song debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, following a surprise release during this year’s Super Bowl. This marked her first time topping the country charts, and she made history as the first Black woman to accomplish this feat. Additionally, she’s the second solo female artist to debut at No. 1, after Taylor Swift sailed to the top of the Hot Country Songs chart in 2021.

It’s also worth noting that her other new country song “16 Carriages,” which was released simultaneously with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” debuted at No. 9 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

It’s also worth noting that her other new country song “16 Carriages,” which was released simultaneously with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” debuted at No. 9 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Beyoncé teased the release of her new music in a playful Super Bowl ad for Verizon, called “Can’t B Broken.” In it, the singer goes to great lengths to “break” Verizon’s network, from running a lemonade stand to performing in outer space. By the end, the singer says, “OK, they ready. Drop the new music.”

Like clockwork, the singer then released her two new songs and announced her eighth studio album, Renaissance Act II (dropping on March 29) on her official website.

While the country genre feels like a new direction for Queen Bey, fans and critics are loving the catchy tune. Music critic Michael Sun wrote in his review for The Guardian, “‘Texas Hold ’Em’ is made for do-si-doing on a dusty dancefloor, with banjo, line-dancing commands, and exclamations of ‘woo hoo!’ that might as well be ‘yee haw!’ There’s a whisper of another recent pop-hoedown, Jonas Brothers’ ‘What a Man Gotta Do,’ to the firmly resolved melody, but also something much more rootsy and authentically country to the arrangement, with its closely harmonized backing vocals and admirably restrained feel.”

We’re already counting down the days to March 29. Until then, we’ll have “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” on repeat.

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