The daughter of country veteran June Carter Cash has defended Beyoncé’s new country album ‘Cowboy Carter’ in a statement.
Carlene Carter, a successful country singer-songwriter herself, questioned why the singer was experiencing such backlash for her foray into country on her eighth album, which came out on Friday (March 29) and praised her ambition.
“I’ve caught wind of some negativity over the release of Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’, her new country album,” Carter’s statement began [via MusicNews].
“As a Carter Girl myself and coming from a long line of Carter Girls, I’m moved to ask why anyone would treat a Carter this way?” she questioned.
“She is an incredibly talented and creative woman who obviously wanted to do this because she likes country music. In my book, she’s one of us Carter women and we have always pushed the boundaries by trying whatever music we felt in our hearts and taking spirit-driven risks. Sometimes the country music ‘establishment’ hasn’t been all that welcoming and sometimes this was accepted with open arms. Like Chuck Berry said, “It goes to show you never can tell’.
She continued: “I am here to let Beyoncé and to all those nay sayers know that I admire and love her and all she does. I am delighted to know that Carter spunk is in her just like it’s been through nearly 100 years of us Carters choosing to follow ours hearts, hearts that are filled with love not just for country music but for all kinds of music.
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“Here’s a warm welcome to the Carter Girl Club! It’s only a matter of time before those nay sayers become Bey sayers. With much love and support. Carlene Carter.”
The LP features a cover of The Beatles‘ ‘Blackbird’ and a reworked version of Dolly Parton‘s ‘Jolene’, with lyrics that address Jay-Z cheating on her. It also stars guest appearances from country veteran Willie Nelson, as well as Willie Jones, Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, Shaboozey and Tanner Adele.
Nancy Sinatra also heaped praise on Beyoncé for sampling her song ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ on the track ‘Ya Ya’.
“To have a little piece of one of my records in a Beyonce song is very meaningful to me because I love her,” she wrote on X/Twitter. “She represents what is great about today’s music and I’m delighted to be a tiny part of it. This may be the best sample of “Boots” yet! And the beat goes on…”
Meanwhile, RAYE has revealed that she wrote a song for the album, which ended up being ‘RIIVERDANCE’.
Sharing a clip of herself singing along to the track, RAYE wrote: “happy COWBOY CARTER day. What an honour it is to being able to contribute my small piece to this beautiful album, and to THE @beyonce who continues to inspire all of us. Track 23 : RIIVERDANCE , co – written by me found my beat up cowboy hat i bought on my 21st birthday for this special occasion.”
Parton has since hailed Queen Bey’s re-interpretation of her classic hit, writing: “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”
It comes after she previously gave Beyoncé’s country pivot her blessing, saying: “I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she’s done a country album.” Ahead of Queen Bey’s version, Parton also asked fans to stream her original track.
Elsewhere, Azealia Banks gave her verdict on the album after she previously criticised Queen Bey’s new musical direction, which she described as “white women cosplay”, while also stating that she feels the singer is “setting herself up to be ridiculed”.
After remarking that she would have “jumped out of my seat” if there had been a KT Tunstall feature on the record, the singer-songwriter jokingly responded: “To be fair, I’d have 100% got off the couch.”