Beyoncé snubbed at 2024 Country Music Awards

 

Beyoncé accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, on April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Beyoncé accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, on April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Beyoncé did not receive a Country Music Association awards nomination when the nods for the 58th edition were announced on Monday, September 10, even though her Cowboy Carter album proved a cultural phenomenon upon release this year.

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The absence of Cowboy Carter among the slate of nominees was conspicuous: “Texas Hold ‘Em,” her sprawling album’s first single, soared to the top of the charts, including the country list, and the album was widely considered a smash.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is a full-throated ode to her southern US roots, a rollicking revue that also deals a vital history lesson on the Black lineage of country music. Nashville’s gatekeepers have long tried to promote a rigid view of country music that’s overwhelmingly white and male – Cowboy Carter skewered that notion. She leads listeners through country’s evolution from African American spirituals and fiddle tunes to its pioneering women.

The awards ceremony will be held on November 20.

Morgan Wallen’s 7 nominations

Morgan Wallen, the controversial country-pop singer who has found enormous streaming success, received the most nominations with seven, including for the coveted “Entertainer of the Year” title.

Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson received five nominations each. Lainey Wilson notched four, as did Post Malone, who segued into country this year from his warbling rock-rap. His single “I Had Some Help” features Wallen, and its nominations ushered that artist to the front of the pack.

Beyoncé is no stranger to CMA controversy: She notably received racist comments after performing what was then her most country song to date, “Daddy Lessons”, at the 2016 CMA awards.

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A Texan raised by a mother from Louisiana and a father from Alabama, Beyoncé tackled the perceived “controversy” over her country turn this year on the track “Ameriican Requiem.”

“They used to say I spoke, ‘Too country’ / Then the rejection came, said I wasn’t, ‘Country enough’ / Said I wouldn’t saddle up, but if that ain’t country, tell me, what is?” Beyoncé sings on the track, whose musical allusions include Buffalo Springfield’s classic “For What It’s Worth.”

Cowboy Carter was far more than country: It included technical mastery of a blend of styles including various country subsets as well as rap, dance, soul, funk, rock and gospel.

The CMA Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes music executives, artists, publicists, songwriters and other industry professionals.