Beyonce attends the 66th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty Images
Beyonce attends the 66th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty Images
Rhinestones and record-topping singles mark Beyonce’s new country chapter. With Texas Hold ‘Emhitting number one on the US Hot 100, she is the first black woman to do so with a country song.
New Beyonce single Texas Hold ‘Em debuted in the second spot of the US Hot 100 last week, and this week the country-inspired song made it to number one on the chart.
It’s Beyonce’s ninth solo single to reach the top spot on the Hot 100, and the singer also had four number-one hits with Destiny’s Child.
Last week, Beyonce achieved another history-making achievement: being the first black woman to reach the top of Billboard’s country music chart, with Texas Hold ‘Em landing in the top spot.
She was also the first woman to reach number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, reports the AP.
Beyonce's new country single Texas Hold 'Em is making history on the US charts. Photo / Instagram
While something to celebrate, these notable firsts also reveal the lack of commercial success black women have had in the country music genre.
For Grammy-winner Beyonce to wade into the genre at this time suggests the star is seeking to create change in the category, challenge herself creatively, or both.
It’s also a nod to her Houston roots, as her mother Tina Knowles explained, saying the family attended rodeos when Beyonce was young and wore Western-style fashion, the Guardian reported.
Texas Hold ‘Em was released on February 11 alongside another country single, 16 Carriages, which also charted at debut, landing at number nine on Billboard’s country chart.
Both songs are believed to be on the tracklist of Beyonce’s upcoming full-length album — assumed to be country-themed — which was announced on a commercial for Verizon that aired during the Super Bowl final, a surprise for fans.
Understood to be called Act II, it’s thought to be a follow-up to 2022′s Renaissance, and the second in a trilogy of albums.
Accompanying the new music is a fresh look, with Beyonce leaning into the fashion codes of country music, a departure, or rather, evolution from the disco-inflected style of the Renaissance album and tour, which finished in December.
She wore a Western-inspired look from Louis Vuitton (under creative director Pharrell William) to the Grammy Awards, including a Stetson hat and studded jacket. Later in the month, she made an unexpected appearance at New York Fashion Week, attending the Luar show wearing another cowboy hat and heavily embellished b;azer and thigh-high boots.
These public appearances come ahead of the release date for the new album, March 29.
