Beyoncé and Willie Nelson… I did not see that coming.
The pop/R&B superstar revealed the tracklist for her forthcoming COWBOY CARTER album this afternoon, and it looks like two country icons in Willie and Dolly Parton are included in some form or fashion.
Bey shared a graphic on her Instagram page that honestly, is pretty confusing to decipher, but both of their names are on it. Willie’s is included with a song called “Smoke Hour,” which isn’t one of his own originals, so it seems like he might have a feature there, or maybe even had a hand in writing it.
In addition, Dolly’s name is included as “Dolly P” in a bubble separate from “Jolene,” and rumors have been swirling for a whole now that Bey would cover Dolly’ iconic song. It’s hard to say if Dolly herself is actually featured too, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she was. It also seems like there might be another song called “Dolly P” in addition, but like I said, this graphic is hard to read in terms of what it really means.
There are about 27 “bubbles” in all, so if each one represents it’s own song, we should be looking at a pretty lengthy project:
The pop/R&B superstar has already made country history with the standout pre-released single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which became Beyoncé’s first #1 hit in country music when it debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart – the first time a black female artist has debuted at #1 on that chart. It also already topped the Billboard Hot 100 all-genre chart. She also already released “16 Carriages.”
And as I’m sure you’ve probably heard, much has been said and made about what this project is in terms of the genre, but Beyoncé said herself in a lengthy post on Instagram last week that it’s “not a country album,” but rather, “a Beyoncé album.”
We’ll see what that means here very soon, as Act II: Cowboy Carter (the second installment of her 2022 Renaissance album), is slated to drop everywhere this Friday, March 29th.
“Texas Hold ‘Em”
“16 Carriages”
