‘Cowboy Carter’ has been the most successful country album of the year, both critically and in terms of numbers. Yet the Country Music Association (CMA) has completely ignored Beyoncé in its award nominations. Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton and Post Malone are among the favourites.
Beyoncé had already said on her Instagram days before the album’s release: “This is not a country record… this is a Beyoncé record.” It seems that the CMA has taken these statements literally.
‘Cowboy Carter’ marked the first time since its inauguration in 1964 that a black woman occupied the number one spot on the Billboard Country Albums chart, as well as on the Songs chart, thanks to ‘TEXAS HOLD ‘EM’. This also reached number 1 on the Hot 100. Still, the American superstar has received a total of 0 nominations.
This isn’t the first time Bey has had a run-in with the CMA. In fact, what happened in 2016 after her unexpected performance of ‘Daddy Lessons’ alongside the -then- Dixie Chicks would be what inspired her to create ‘Cowboy Carter’ in the first place. “It was born out of an experience I had years ago where I didn’t feel welcome… and it was clear that I wasn’t. After that, I got fully into the history of country music,” said the singer before the release of the LP.
Morgan Wallen has received the most nominations, with seven possible wins. He is followed by Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson, with five nominations each, and Post Malone and Lainey Wilson, with four.
