Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to achieve No 1 on US country chart

Texan-born star is releasing her first country album in March

Beyoncé has become the first Black woman to top the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

The Grammy-winning artist, 42, claimed her latest record-breaking feat with her new single, “Texas Hold ‘Em”, after it debuted at No 1.

Released on 11 February, the song achieved the number-one slot after just four days of tracking, during which time it was streamed 19.2 million times in the US and downloaded 32,000 times.

Beyoncé surprised fans during the Super Bowl by releasing the song, along with her other single, “16 Carriages”. At the same time, she announced that her debut country album, Renaissance II, would be released on 29 March.

The success of “Texas Hold ‘Em” comes after a row erupted last week over the song’s status as a country music song, reviving a decades-long debate over the country music industry’s lack of support for Black artists.

KYKC country radio station in Oklahoma initially refused to play the song, issuing a curt reply to a fan that “we “do not play Beyonce on KYKC as we are a country music station”.

The fan in question then accused the station of “blatant racism and discrimination”, encouraging fellow Beyoncé to email and request the track.

KYKC quickly backtracked, claiming it was not aware that Beyoncé had released two country songs.

Its Facebook account said the station “didn't physically have it [the songs]. Now we do. Love it”.

“We initially refused to play it in the same manner if someone requested us to play The Rolling Stones on our country station,” KYKC’s general manager Roger Harris said.

Beyoncé grew up in Houston, Texas, one of the heartlands of country music.

She previously dabbled in the genre on “Daddy Lessons”, from her 2016 album Lemonade, and duetted the song (despite objections from conservative country fans) with The Chicks at the 50th annual Country Music Association Awards.

The performance came after “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by the Recording Academy’s country music committee, meaning it was deemed ineligible for any of the country music Grammy awards.

Rapper Lil Nas X experienced similar hurdles with his hit single “Old Town Road”, which was removed from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2019 after chart compilers claimed it didn’t “embrace enough elements of today’s country music”.

Country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus, who guest featured in a remix of the track, was one of the prominent artists backing Lil Nas X.

“When I got thrown off the charts, Waylon Jennings said to me: ‘Take this as a compliment. [It] means you’re doing something great! Only Outlaws are outlawed,’” he tweeted.

Lil Nas X at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in January 2020 (Getty Images for The Recording A)

Beyoncé’s sister and fellow artist Solange has also featured cowboy themes in her work, most notably in the companion film to her 2019 album, When I Get Home.

“Growing up here in Texas, in Almeda, you’re just going to see Black cowboys on the street,” she said at a Q&A in her hometown of Houston.

“I don’t know John Wayne. I don’t know his story. I really don’t. We’ve had to rewrite what Black history means for us since the beginning of time … It’s not just an aesthetic, this is something that we actually live.”

With the success of “Texas Hold ‘Em”, Beyoncé has also become the first woman to top both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs charts since they were launched in 1958.

She has been teasing her new album for some time, appearing at awards ceremonies and public events in recent months dressed in country-style outfits, complete with stetsons.