She’s not performing at the CMA Awards tonight, but Beyoncé has already been a big topic of conversation leading up to this year’s show.
Obviously the pop superstar released her country-inspired album Cowboy Carter earlier this year to massive praise from critics (though fans of traditional country music were divided – and even Beyoncé herself proclaimed that it wasn’t a “country” album).
But when the nominations for the 2024 CMA Awards were announced, Beyoncé and Cowboy Carter were nowhere to be found.
Many online immediately began accusing the Country Music Association of racism, while stars like Luke Bryan and Dolly Parton rushed in to defend the CMAs for nominating artists who made their careers out of country music, as opposed to a one-off album that even the star herself doesn’t claim to be a “country album.”
And in that conversation, there were reminders of Beyoncé’s performance at the 2016 CMA Awards – an appearance which she claims inspired Cowboy Carter after she didn’t feel welcome at the ceremony.
If you remember, the pop superstar was invited to the show to perform “Daddy Lessons” alongside the Dixie Chicks, a decision that left many scratching their heads after the show had taken criticism in recent years for featuring too many “pop” stars and leaving out deserving country artists.
Ahead of the show, country legend Alan Jackson was asked about the trend, and said that he hoped the show would stick to country music for what was to be their 50th anniversary edition of the show:
“Yeah, they may play some real country music.
But I understand the dang television station trying to get the ratings with whatever they think is gonna prop it up, with some big event with some other type of artist on there.
Yeah, hopefully it’ll be a good country music show for a change.”
And to their credit, the show opened strong with a performance from some of the legends of country (including Jackson) performing some of the biggest country hits of all time – artists like Charlie Daniels, Reba, Randy Travis, Charley Pride, and Vince Gill. Later on in the show, they even featured Jackson and George Strait performing a duet of their own songs “Remember When” and “Troubadour.”
But when it came time for Beyoncé to take the stage, many fans of traditional country music weren’t happy – including, apparently, Alan Jackson.
According to one Nashville manager interviewed by Billboard, Jackson stood up from his seat in the front row and walked out in the middle of the performance:
“The overall show was great, but in my opinion that seemed out of place and felt forced. It just didn’t fit the night to me, celebrating the 50 years, and the Dixie Chicks seemed like her backup band on it, without enough of a real shout-out to them.
I was sitting behind Alan Jackson, and he actually stood up from the front row and walked out in middle of the performance, so I think that spoke volumes for the traditional, real country acts.”
Jackson wasn’t the only country artist who was unhappy with the decision to have a pop artist performing during what’s supposed to be “country’s biggest night.” Travis Tritt also took to Twitter to express his displeasure with the decision:
I have nothing against Beyoncé. It's the CMA producers that I'm disappointed in. Country doesn't need pop acts for ratings.
— Travis Tritt (@TravisTritt) November 4, 2016
Of course the 2024 CMA Awards air tonight on ABC at 8pm eastern/7pm central, live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. And this year, Post Malone is expected to have a major presence at the show after the release of his own country album, F-1 Trillion. But he won’t be the only pop artist on the show, because of course organizers can’t help themselves and think that if they have artists from other genres it will bring in more fans. (Spoiler alert: It never works).
Thomas Rhett will also be performing a duet with Teddy Swims (who I had to look up, but he’s definitely not a country artist), while presenters include names like Simone Biles, Freddie Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton and Daniel Sunjata.
So if you’re hoping to have a year with just country artists on the awards show…well, better luck in 2025.
