Beyoncé Makes History As the First Black Woman to Win a Grammy in the Country Category in 50 Years
She and Miley Cyrus took home the award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the 'Cowboy Carter' track "II MOST WANTED."
Even before the official 2025 Grammys ceremony aired live, Beyoncé made history.
During the pre-show, the pop superstar took home the award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the Cowboy Carter track "II MOST WANTED" featuring Miley Cyrus. The gramophone marked Beyoncé's first-ever win in the Country category—making her the first Black woman to win a Grammy in the Country genre in 50 years, following The Pointer Sisters in 1975.
It wasn't her only milestone of the night: She also won the gramophone for Best Country Album for Cowboy Carter, making history as the first Black woman to win the award.
Beyoncé at the 2024 Grammys.
Beyoncé is the most-nominated artist at this year's ceremony with 11 nods, including nominations in several other country categories. Cowboy Carter's main singles "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" and "16 CARRIAGES" were up for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance, respectively, while "YA YA" was up for Best Americana Performance.
The other LPs nominated for Best Country Album included Higher by Chris Stapleton, Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves, Whirlwind by Lainey Wilson, and F-1 Trillion by Post Malone.
Meanwhile, the race for Best Country Duo/Group Performance included "Break Mine" by Brothers Osborne, "Bigger Houses" by Dan + Shay, "Cowboys Cry Too" by Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan, and "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen.
Beyoncé's wins in the country categories are significant for the pop icon, who has been candid about Black artists' struggle to be recognized by the mainstream country music genre. No Black female solo artist has ever won a Grammy for a country song. It was only in recent years that Mickey Guyton made history as the first Black female solo artist to be recognized in the Country category, as her song "Black Like Me" was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance in 2021.
The only precedent was in 1975 when another artist coming into the genre from the outside, The Pointer Sisters, won Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group for the song “Fairytale.”
Beyoncé's Grammy wins come hours after she announced her upcoming Cowboy Carter Tour at midnight on February 2nd. The superstar first teased a special announcement following her "Beyoncé Bowl" NFL Christmas Day performance, which she postponed in the wake of the devastating L.A. wildfires. Dates for the Cowboy Carter Tour are to be announced.
The pop star—who is the most-awarded artist in Grammys history—has more chances to take home coveted golden gramophones tonight. Many wonder whether Cowboy Carter will become her first album to take home Album of the Year, after four previous losses in the category, and if "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" will take home the prizes for Record and/or Song of the Year.
Three other Cowboy Carter tracks received nods: Best Pop Solo Performance for "BODYGUARD;" Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "LEVII's JEANS" featuring Post Malone; and Best Melodic Rap Performance for "SPAGHETII" featuring Linda Martell and Shaboozey.
