Beyoncé’s Album ‘Cowboy Carter’ Lands US Number One Country Album
As of April 7, Beyonce's new country-inspired album topped the Billboard's Top Country Albums, making her the first Black woman to achieve this feat.
She has now had eight albums that have debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts.
Billboard revealed that, at 407,000 units, ‘Cowboy Carter’ claimed the biggest week of 2024 so far and the largest since Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ reached 1.653 million units on the November 11, 2023 list back in October.
Among the many accomplishments achieved by 'Cowboy Carter' is Beyoncé's highest single-week sales total since 2016's 'Lemonade' debuted at number one with 653,000 units.
This follows Beyoncé's February success, when her new single "Texas Hold 'Em" made her the first Black woman to top the US country chart.
Also, in 2021, with her re-recorded renditions of "Love Story" and "All Too Well," she became the second female solo act to debut at Number One, after Taylor Swift.
Also, since these rundowns began in 1958, Beyoncé is the first female to ever be named number one on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hip Songs and Hot Country Songs charts. Just four other artists—Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ray Charles, and Morgan Wallen—have topped both lists simultaneously.
The National Magazine of Economic and Social Issues gave Beyoncé's "country reinvention strikes gold" and her "heartfelt, expansive take on country music" five stars in their review of Cowboy Carter.
Paul McCartney gave Beyoncé a ringing endorsement following her cover of "Blackbird," and the album has received similar appreciation from the star's musical contemporaries.
The Beatles singer expressed his happiness with Beyonce's rendition of his song "Blackbird" in a statement. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place.”
Prior to that, First Lady Michelle Obama lauded "Cowboy Carter" and proclaimed that Beyoncé had "changed the game once again."