Beyonce Makes Historic Breakthrough as the First Black Woman to Reach Number One on US Country Chart | Entertainment & Arts Update
Beyonce has made history by becoming the first black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Texas Hold ‘Em quickly climbed to number one after Beyonce released it alongside the single 16 Carriages in a surprise album announcement during the Super Bowl.
The track also made her the second solo female artist to have a song go straight in at number one. Taylor Swift achieved this in 2021 with her re-recordings of Love Story and All Too Well.
Beyonce‘s chart-topping country track makes her the first woman to reach number one on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the lists began in 1958. Ray Charles, Billy Ray Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Morgan Wallen are the only other artists to have achieved this feat.
The new chart positions, announced on Tuesday, cover the seven days leading up to 15 February.
Beyonce’s song, released on 11 February, reached the number-one slot after just four days of tracking, with 39,000 downloads and 19.2 million streams in the US during that time.
Beyonce wearing a cowboy hat at the Grammys before her new album was announced. Pic: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
Both Texas Hold ‘Em and 16 Carriages will be included in Beyonce’s ninth studio album Renaissance Act II, scheduled for release on 29 March.
Country music has historically had a complicated relationship with black musicians. An Oklahoma country radio station initially refused to play a request for Texas Hold ‘Em, sparking a viral campaign on X (formerly Twitter).
In 2019, rapper Lil Nas X‘s viral hit Old Town Road, featuring country star Billy Ray Cyrus, was removed from Billboard’s country chart after reaching number one due to it not being considered “country enough” by Billboard.
Beyonce’s 2016 track Daddy Lessons from the album Lemonade was also deemed ineligible for the country Grammys by the Recording Academy’s country music committee.
