Award-winning singer Beyoncé has made history with her new album, Cowboy Carter, as the album debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums list.
Since the list’s inception in January 1964, the Halo hitmaker becomes the first black woman to hold the top spot.
Additionally, Beyoncé makes history by being the first female to simultaneously occupy the top three slots in the poll when three of the set’s tracks debut at Nos. 1, 2, and 3 on the Hot Country Tracks list. Morgan Wallen accomplished the feat four times in 2022–2023 among all acts, including in the top nine the week his album One Thing at a Time debuted on the charts.
The Cowboy Carter album, which was released on March 29, achieved the highest week of 2024 in the United States, with 407,000 equivalent album units in the week that concluded on April 4.
Cowboy Carter boasts a diverse lineup of billed guest artists, including Tanner Adell, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi Carter, Miley Cyrus, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Linda Martell, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Post Malone, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey and Brittney Spencer. Among the many additional players on the album: 070 Shake, Jon Batiste, Ryan Beatty, Gary Clark Jr., The-Dream, Rhiannon Giddens, Paul McCartney, Pharrell, Robert Randolph, Nile Rodgers, Raphael Saadiq, Sara Watkins and Stevie Wonder.
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Notably, several well-known Black performers are on the diverse artists set Rhythm Country Blues, which topped for a week in March 1994, despite the fact that Beyoncé is the first Black woman in a main role to lead Top Country Albums. The Pointer Sisters, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, and The Staple Singers are on the record.
Beyoncé’s eight top 10 hits on the most recent Hot Country Songs list are summarized here:
- No. 1, “Texas Hold ‘Em” (eighth week at No. 1)
- No. 2, “II Most Wanted,” with Miley Cyrus (debut)
- No. 3, “Jolene” (debut)
- No. 5, “Levii’s Jeans,” with Post Malone (debut)
- No. 6, “Blackbiird,” with Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts (debut)
- No. 7, “Ameriican Requiem” (debut)
- No. 9, “Daughter” (debut)
- No. 10, “16 Carriages” (re-entry; peaked at No. 9)