Beyoncé Creates History as the First Black Woman to Reach the Top of Hot Country Songs Chart

On February 20, the 32-time Grammy winner Beyoncé made history by becoming the first Black female artist to reach the top of Billboard's Hot Country Songs list with her new song, Texas Hold 'Em. Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves' duet I Remember Everything debuted at No. 1 (and stuck for 20 weeks) until Texas Hold 'Em, which was officially serviced to country radio on February 13, dethroned it. Both Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are the only female solo artists to have debuted at the top of the chart; Swift did it in 2021 with her songs All Too Well (Taylor's Version) and Love Story (Taylor's Version).

Soon after her Verizon commercial aired, Beyoncé shocked fans by releasing Texas Hold 'Em and 16 Carriages during the Super Bowl. She also shared a preview for her next album, Act II, which is due in March. She posted a teaser on Instagram that seemed to be ripped from the iconic 1984 western Paris, Texas. It showed a group of desert spectators gazing at her billboard while background footage of Texas Hold 'Em played. The whole project—which is being referred to as Act II of Renaissance but does not yet have a title—is scheduled for release on March 29. This comes more than a year and a half after the summer 2022 release of the music icon's house-inspired album.

Following the news that Beyoncé had created history in the nation, admirers gushed over her amazing feat on X. One user wrote, "Beyoncé is officially Number 1! On the country charts now! A black women at that... Beyoncé's has officially took over country Music and y'all just gotta deal with it y'all probably are not gonna catch it till it's too late but music History is being made #BEYONCEISCOUNTRY."

Another one added, "As a 52yo Swiftie who LOVES all kinds of music...ahem so far Beyonce's songs released r amazing. Vocals are so fire Taylor started in Country Music & is now in Pop Genre. Y can't Beyonce delve in this genre? Play her music on Country Radio! It's amazing. She's is Taylor's idol." A third one wrote, "There’s never been black country musicians before Beyoncé. She’s taking the genre away from old white men like Charlie Pride and Darius Rucker."

Although the singer has always made no secret of her country origins and has experimented with the genre in the past (Daddy Lessons from 2016's Lemonade), this is the first time she has released an all-country project. Although Beyoncé's label Columbia Records officially pushed Texas Hold 'Em to country radio on February 14, Rolling Stone reported that streamers like Spotify and Apple Music swiftly placed the song at the top of their country playlists.

Following her 2024 Grammys sneak peek, Beyonce made her first visit to New York Fashion Week in several years to support her nephew Daniel Julez J. Smith Jr., the son of Solange Knowles, who was modeling in Luar's runway show. She also went to the New York premiere of Mea Culpa, the new Netflix movie starring her closest friend, Kelly Rowland. She has also been working very hard to promote Cécred, her recently launched haircare line.