Bow Down, Y'all: Beyoncé Is the First Black Female Artist with a Number One Country Song
Add it to the superstar's countless broken records.
We're only a week into Renaissance: Act II, and Beyoncé is already making history in the mainstream music industry. Today, Billboard announced that the superstar's first two songs from her upcoming album, "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages," have made their debuts on the charts; "Texas Hold 'Em" landed at no. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, making Beyoncé the first-ever Black woman artist to top the rankings.
The upbeat line-dance track reached the top of the charts with 19.2 million streams last week, along with 39,000 traditional sales (per Luminate) and 4.8 million audience impressions from radio. Meanwhile, the epic ballad "16 Carriages" debuted at no. 9 on the Country chart, with 10.3 million streams, 14,000 sales, and 90,000 in radio reach.
As for the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted at no. 2 and "16 Carriages" at no. 38, with Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me" winning a sixth consecutive week at no. 1.
"Texas Hold 'Em" is already breaking records with its no. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
The singer has also reached new heights as a genre-spanning artist. With her "Texas Hold 'Em" debut, Beyoncé has now gotten no. 1s on seven of Billboard’s charts as a solo artist: the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Gospel Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot R&B Songs, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The only artist to lead more genre charts is Justin Bieber with eight no. 1s, though Bey could bring a tie on that front with her highly-speculated Act III release. (Fingers crossed on a rock album!)
After Beyoncé surprise-dropped the two country songs on Feb. 11, following her Verizon Super Bowl commercial, fans and entertainment insiders wondered whether she would be embraced in the largely traditional country industry, given the genre’s history of ignoring Black artists. While the singer has always been public about her country roots and previously dabbled in the genre ("Daddy Lessons" from 2016's Lemonade), this is her first time releasing an all-country project. Still, per Rolling Stone, streamers including Spotify and Apple Music quickly put "Texas Hold 'Em" at the top of their country playlists, while Beyoncé’s label Columbia Records officially promoted “Texas Hold ‘Em” to country radio on Feb. 14.
Beyoncé is spotted leaving the Luar fashion show on February 13, 2024.
Since the Renaissance: Act II era begun, Beyoncé has been booked and busy, with the ultra-private singer making several public appearances. After she debuted her Act II style at the Super Bowl (following her sneak peek at the 2024 Grammys), Bey made her first New York Fashion Week appearance in several years to support her nephew Daniel Julez J. Smith Jr., Solange Knowles' son, as he modeled in Luar's runway show. She also attended the New York premiere of bestie Kelly Rowland's new Netflix film Mea Culpa. Not to mention, she's been hard at work promoting her brand-new haircare line Cécred.
