In laying out wishes for 2023, Pitchfork’s Puja Patel dreams of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Act 2, writing that “Rumors are that it's going to be a country album.” The genre-bending artist fed the rumors by teasing tour promotions wearing a disco cowboy hat, which quickly went viral and out of stock due to high BeyHive demand.
This possible release wouldn’t be Beyoncé’s first foray onto the country music scene. In 2007, Sugarland performed a twangy rendition of "Irreplaceable" at the Country Music Awards — with a surprise appearance from Beyoncé herself for the final verse. In retrospect, the performance shows just how much Beyoncé’s position in the music industry has grown since then. For any artist today, having a collaboration with Beyoncé would be a feat in itself, and for Beyoncé not to be the main artist in that collaboration would be almost unimaginable.
Incidentally, the writer of "Irreplaceable," NeYo, originally thought the track would be a country piece, but realized after adding drums that this was a song in Beyoncé’s pop and R&B wheelhouse. Later, Reba McEntire gave "If I Were a Boy" a country diva makeover. Beyoncé herself didn’t participate in the 2011 cover, but the crossover demonstrates that the pop icon’s musical and storytelling style isn’t far from that of country.
Most notably, Beyoncé formally entered country music’s sonic landscape in 2016 with the release of "Daddy Lessons" on her sixth studio album, Lemonade — in which she honored her Black Southern roots ("My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana/You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bama.")
"Daddy Lessons" chronicles a daughter recounting her daddy’s tough coming-of-age lessons with a nostalgic reverence. After songwriter Diana Gordon played the song for Beyoncé the first time, the singer responded, “This is my life.”
Beyond employing age-old storytelling tropes of country music, the song boasts other hallmarks of the genre as well — a thumping brass band, a marching 2/4 beat, a bluesy harmonica solo. However, the track doesn’t sit wholly in country music (if any song can, that is). It has the sounds of second lines in New Orleans, and of the chopped-and-screwed style that came out of Houston’s hip-hop.
Beyoncé formally entered country music’s sonic landscape in 2016 with the release of "Daddy Lessons" on her sixth studio album, Lemonade — in which she honored her Black Southern roots
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The singer performed the piece with The Chicks, known at the time as The Dixie Chicks, during the 2016 Country Music Awards as a mashup with the trio’s "Long Time Gone." Lights came up on Beyoncé, Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Strayer before they started clapping, diving into a call and response of “Texas” — where they all are from. This performance at the 50th Country Music Awards came after a hiatus for The Chicks.
The group had been shunned by country radio stations and the country music establishment for criticizing former President George Bush’s invasion of Iraq, stating “they were ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” Beyoncé’s choice to perform at the Country Music Awards and to do it with the Chicks was a powerful one — a testament to the individuality she brings to the music industry.
Beyond the contextual significance of this performance, it was also a chance for Beyoncé to tease a new side of her vocal and performance style. She ultimately delivered a show-stopping performance at the CMAs.
The musical icon hasn’t embraced country music so strongly since, however. Renaissance: Act 1 turned out to be a knockout dance album rather than the supposed country album it was rumored to be last June. Whether 2023 will be the year Beyoncé releases a country album is yet to be seen, though we still hold out hope for a country Beyoncé era.
The Renaissance World Tour travels from May to September, making the logistics of album-writing uncertain, country or not. Besides, we’re still waiting on the visual album for Act 1.
