The CMA Awards excluded Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter,’ and Dolly Parton has some thoughts on the matter
Speaking to Variety in a September 17 interview, Dolly Parton diplomatically suggested: “Well, you never know.”
She pointed out: “There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field.” There certainly are.
Dolly Parton mused: “They probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that.”
Beyoncé accepts the Innovator Award onstage during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on April 01, 2024. (Photo Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)To be clear, Dolly Parton isn’t saying that Cowboy Carter isn’t Country. In fact, she called it a “wonderful album.”
“She can be very, very proud of, and I think everybody in Country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good,” Dolly continued.
Of the CMAs not nominating Beyonce’s album, Dolly Parton opined: “So I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the Country charts and the Country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.”
Dolly Parton speaks onstage during Kicking Off CMA Fest: A Special Conversation With Dolly Parton Hosted By Rachel Smith at Music City Center on June 06, 2024. (Photo Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Beyonce making a Country album makes a lot of sense
Both Beyonce and Post Malone delved into Country. And Dolly Parton participated in both of their albums, adding that she’s “open to everything” with their future work.
Dolly Parton also affirmed Beyonce’s Country credentials. “She’s a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base.”
The Country legend emphasized: “It wasn’t like she just appeared out of nowhere. Post Malone has loved country music his whole life, and then I got to do the duet with him on his album, and I think it’s a fantastic album. I thought both those albums were great.”
Beyoncé accepts the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album award for “Renaissance†onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023. (Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)When Beyonce wrote Cowboy Carter, it stemmed from experiencing exclusion.
Queen Bey has never specified, but most assume that she was referring to her 2016 performance at the CMA Awards.
Which of course makes her album’s snub from the CMA Awards feel like an acute jab. That and the racist meltdowns over her music playing on Country radio, especially because Bey’s album debuted at #1 on the charts.
Dolly Parton speaks onstage at the 53rd Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala at Music City Center on October 11, 2023. (Photo Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Is this another hurtful snub?
Only Beyonce gets to decide if Dolly Parton’s words are hurtful to her. However, it sounds like Dolly is singing Beyonce’s praises … while also suggesting that the CMA Awards exclusion was nothing personal.
To be blunt … Dolly Parton is giving people too much credit. That’s not a surprise, because part of what makes her so universally beloved (except by weirdos at The Federalist) is that she largely stays out of politics.
For the most part, this is wonderful. But when someone disses Beyonce and Dolly Parton suggests that it’s an accident, her charitable statement might sting a little. Bey’s album was snubbed. People are allowed to resent that.
