Beyoncé Is The First Black Woman To Top The Country Singles Chart

It’s official: Beyoncé has taken over the country music industry, topping the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with her hoedown-inspired number Texas Hold ‘Em. Her other recently released single, 16 Carriages, landed at #9 on the chart.

As Billboard reported on Tuesday (20 February), both songs hit the Billboard Hot 100 (songs from all genres), landing at #2 and #38, respectively.

Beyoncé has made history as the first woman to top the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the charts began tracking songs across genres in October 1958. Beyoncé joins good company in Morgan Wallen, Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus and Ray Charles as the only acts who have led those charts.

By topping the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, Beyoncé has dethroned Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ duet, I Remember Everything, from #1 after 20 weeks.

Texas Hold ‘Em landed at #1 thanks to impressively strong streaming numbers, gaining 19.2 million streams and 39,000 traditional sales (per Luminate) in a week. According to Rolling Stone, the single has also seen a strong push to radio, gaining 4.8 million impressions on the platform.

Last week, Beyoncé confirmed the release of her new country album, Act II – which features the singles Texas Hold ‘Em and 16 Carriages – the follow-up to last year’s Renaissance. She previously explored country music on her Lemonade track, Daddy Lessons, which she later performed with The Chicks at the CMA Awards in December 2016.

Beyoncé will release Act II on Friday, 29 March.

Getting her new songs played on country radio hasn’t been an easy effort, with stations like Oklahoma’s KYKC initially refusing to play the tracks as Beyoncé hasn’t previously been known as a traditional country artist.

“We do not play Beyonce' [sic] on KYKC as we are a country music station,” the email to a fan who requested Texas Hold ‘Em read. That response was screenshotted and subsequently posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), which led to backlash. The reply attracted more attention after the popular X account Pop Base retweeted the story.

The social media reception led the radio station’s general manager, Roger Harris, to give an interview with Entertainment Weekly and explain KYKC’s position on the matter – and why they eventually ended up adding Texas Hold ‘Em to rotation.