Beyonce has become the first black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Texas Hold ‘Em soared to number one after the musician released it simultaneously with the single 16 Carriages in a surprise album announcement during the Super Bowl.
The track also made her the second solo female artist to have a song go straight in at number one.
Taylor Swift was the first in 2021 with her re-recordings of Love Story and All Too Well.
Beyonce’s chart-topping country track makes her the first woman to reach number one on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the lists began in 1958.
Ray Charles, Billy Ray Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Morgan Wallen are the only other artists to have achieved this feat.
The new chart positions, announced on Tuesday, account for the seven days leading up to 15 February.
Beyonce’s song, which was released on 11 February, achieved the number-one slot after just four days of tracking.
In that time, it was downloaded 39,000 times and streamed 19.2 million times in the US.
Image:
Beyonce wearing a cowboy hat at the Grammys before her new album was announced. Pic: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
Both Texas Hold ‘Em and 16 Carriages will feature on Beyonce’s ninth studio album Renaissance Act II, which will be released on 29 March.
Country music has often had a fraught relationship with black musicians.
An Oklahoma country radio station initially refused to play a request for Texas Hold ‘Em, which sparked a viral campaign on X, formerly Twitter.
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In 2019, rapper Lil Nas X’s viral record Old Town Road, which featured country star Billy Ray Cyrus, was removed from Billboard’s country chart after it hit the number one spot.
Billboard said the song wasn’t country enough, despite lyrics about horse-riding and banjo instrumentation.
In a statement at the time, Billboard said: “While Old Town Road incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”
Beyonce’s 2016 country-inspired track Daddy Lessons from the album Lemonade was also deemed ineligible for the country Grammys by the Recording Academy’s country music committee.
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