Dolly Parton defends the CMAs after Beyoncé’s shocking ‘Cowboy Carter’ snub

“DollyParton on Beyoncé’s ‘COWBOY CARTER’ being shut out from the CMA’s.

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.”

42 CommentsDolly Parton performs in Kentucky on August 27, 2024.AP

Relax, y’all.

Dolly Parton doesn’t believe Beyoncé was purposely shut out by the 2024 CMA Awards.

The 78-year-old music icon spoke to Variety in an interview published Tuesday and reacted to Bey’s chart-topping country album, “Cowboy Carter,” being excluded from this year’s CMA Awards nominations list.

“Well, you never know,” said Parton. “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 I didn’t even realize that until somebody asked me that question.”

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Dolly Parton at the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center in Kentucky.Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Beyoncé performs on her Renaissance World Tour.Getty Images for Parkwood

Parton gave Bey, 43, her blessing to cover her hit song “Jolene” on ““Cowboy Carter.” She’s also featured on the album in the 30-second interlude, “Dolly P.”

Calling Beyoncé’s latest work “a wonderful album,” Parton said the “Halo” singer should “be very, very proud” of making “Cowboy Carter.”

“And I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good,” Parton continued.

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Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album.Blair Caldwell/Parkwood Entertainment LLC
“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.

Parton further praised Beyoncé’s historic country album and noted she was “fortunate” to be on it.

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Beyoncé at the 2024 Grammy Awards.Getty Images for The Recording Academy
“Well, ‘Jolene’ was in Beyoncé’s, and I thought that was a great album,” Parton said. “She’s a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base. It wasn’t like she just appeared out of nowhere.”

When asked if she’d duet “Jolene” with Bey, Parton replied, “Oh yeah. I’m open to anything.”

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Dolly Parton in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 27, 2024.AP
“Cowboy Carter” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart.

“Texas Hold ’Em,” the hit single off the album, was on top of the Hot Country Songs for 10 weeks.

Despite the success, Beyoncé failed to garner a single nod from the Country Music Association.

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Beyoncé at the 2023 Grammy Awards.Getty Images
Morgan Wallen scored the most 2024 CMA nominations, with seven. Post Malone, who is featured on “Cowboy Carter,” received four nominations for collaborating with Wallen, 31, on the song “I Had Some Help.”

The award ceremony will take place in November.

Beyoncé previously ventured into country music with her song “Daddy Lessons” from her 2016 album “Lemonade.” She performed the track at the 2016 CMA Awards with the Chicks — an event that seemingly inspired her to make a country album.

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Beyoncé in an Instagram post.@beyonce/Instagram

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Beyoncé.instgram @beyonce
In an Instagram post about “Cowboy Carter” shared in March, Beyoncé wrote, “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t.”

“But because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive,” she added.

While “Cowboy Carter” didn’t get attention from the CMAs, the album is an odds-on favorite for the 2025 Grammy Awards.