Reyna Roberts has nothing but love for Beyoncé and her involvement in country music.

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“I’m so grateful that she’s in this space and that she’s also allowed other country artists, like me, to be on the album because a lot of people don’t know about Black people in country music,” Roberts, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, May 16, while on the red carpet for the Academy of Country Music Awards. “And just the fact that it took her bringing us up to the top to even be actually acknowledged by most people.”

Roberts first hit the country music scene in 2020 when she went viral for her cover of Carrie Underwood’s “Drinking Alone.” Her take on the song earned praise from Underwood herself and Mickey Guyton. Later that year, Roberts dropped her debut single “Stompin’ Grounds.”.

 


“We’ve been making our own achievements and doing our own things,” Roberts explained. “We’ve been doing great, but like, it really took Beyoncé to lift us up to get the world outside of country music to see that we’re here, which has been imperative and essential.”

When Beyoncé dropped Cowboy Carter in March, Roberts was one of the countless Black country musicians featured on the album. She sings on the track “Blackbird” alongside Beyoncé, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Beyoncé also collaborated with Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Willie Nelson and more for the record.


“For me, she’s changed my life. Like, I’ve had so many opportunities since she put me on Cowboy Carter,” Roberts told Us. “This is my first time on Hot 100. And I feel like, I don’t know when that would have happened without her.”

While Beyoncé wasn’t in attendance at the ACMs, she has made historical contributions to the genre. Beyoncé became the first-ever Black woman to achieve a No. 1 country song on the Hot Country Songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em” and No 1. country album. Ahead of the Cowboy Carter’s release, Beyoncé shared that she was inspired to dabble in country music after having a negative encounter in the industry.

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