Music legend Beyoncé recently broke a new record with her latest release, “Cowboy Carter.”
Last Wednesday, Parkwood Entertainment reported that the 27-song album has surpassed one billion streams on the streaming service Spotify. A little less than two months after the album was first released on March 29, she also held the record for the most-streamed album in a single day in 2024, becoming the first artist to do so with a country album.
Beyoncé also charted 23 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, officially earning 106 career entries. With this achievement, she became the third woman and seventh artist overall to do so.
The album was just as successful abroad as, in early April, “Cowboy Carter” debuted at No.1 on the U.K. charts. With the debut, the 32-time Grammy award-winning artist became the first Black artist to reach the top spot in the U.K. with a country album.
In an Instagram post announcing the album, Beyoncé explained how “Cowboy Carter” was born out of an experience and how that had led her to study the history of country music.
“It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history,” she said in the post. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me.”
“Act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking the time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work,” she added.
The album’s release, “Cowboy Carter,” has helped celebrate the history of Black artists in the country, drawing attention to bodies of work by legendary musicians such as Tina Turner, Ray Charles, DeFord Bailey, Darius Rucker and Charley Pride.
The album has also helped propel current Black country artists, including Tiera Kennedy, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Willie Jones and Shaboozey.
With his latest release “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey further helped make history alongside Beyoncé by becoming the first two Black artists to consecutively hold the number one positions on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
“I cannot say thank you enough for this,” said the artist upon making the charts per Rolling Stone. “Being from a small town in Northern Virginia, I never dreamed of actualizing anything even remotely close to this. And to know it’s truly just the beginning. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
