Beyoncé makes history as the first Black woman to earn a number-one country album

Is there anything Queen Bey can’t do? Beyoncé has made history as the first Black woman to earn a number-one country album on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with her new release, Cowboy Carter.

The singer’s lead single from the album “Texas Hold ‘Em” made the star the first Black woman to top the Billboard country charts, and Beyoncé continues to break records with Cowboy Carter.

On 7 April, Billboard confirmed the accolade, stating that the singer’s latest release reached “No. 1 on Top Country Albums, making Beyoncé the first Black woman ever to have led the list”.

Her new album — which marks the first full-length album in the genre for the singer — also reached the top spot on the Billboard 200 and is her eighth album to do so. The star has even overtaken Janet Jackson as the fourth-most chart-topping albums among women, according to the magazine.

Her record-breaking single “Texas Hold ‘Em” was a surprise release during the Super Bowl in February, and soon topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. 

The 42-year-old “Break My Soul” singer was also the first female artist to have a song hit number one on the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts simultaneously, Variety reported.

However, the singer has been subjected to racism for her right to occupy country music spaces after the release of her lead singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”. 

“I feel so honoured to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she wrote on Instagram on 19 March. However, the “CUFF IT” hitmaker noted that the colour of her — or any other artist’s — skin should not play a role in whatever genre of music they decide to create. 

Potentially referencing her Country Music Awards performance in 2016, the singer said the album idea came from a time she “did not feel welcomed”. The star performed her Lemonade track “Daddy Lessons” alongside The Chicks (formerly known as The Dixie Chicks), and was subjected to racist abuse at the time.

“Because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive,” she said in the post. “It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives [to] educating on our musical history.”