Beyonce May Compete In Grammys Country Category
Beyonce has submitted her Cowboy Carter album for the Grammys country music categories, according to The Hollywood Reporter. According to their report, the Recording Academy had its screening committee meeting last week, where members determine the categories in which albums or songs will compete.
This submission comes seven years after the Academy’s country committee rejected her classic “Daddy Lessons” (from the 2016 Lemonade album). Last month, Cowboy Carter failed to get any nominations for this year’s CMAs. While many fans were outraged by what seemed to be a snub, Beyonce herself said in her Instagram post that announced the record, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
Beyonce is the most decorated artist in Grammy history. If she gets a Best Country Album nomination, it would be her first in that category; she has already been nominated in pop, R&B, rap, electronic/dance and even rock (“Don’t Hurt Yourself” from Lemonade was nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards).
Country singer and American Idol judge Luke Bryan was recently asked about Beyonce’s lack of nominations at the CMAs. He acknowledged that Beyonce’s fans are very intense and wanted to see her nominated for awards at the event. But, he noted, not everyone who releases country albums gets nominated for awards at country music award shows. He said, “Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about it. But where things get a little tricky — if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit. Like, Beyoncé can do exactly what she wants to. She’s probably the biggest star in music. But come to an award show and high-five us and have fun and get in the family, too. And I’m not saying she didn’t do that … but country music is a lot about family.”
Indeed, few artists from outside of country have been able to really be accepted by the community: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Sheryl Crow are two examples of major artists who made “country” albums and didn’t get lots of radio play or win awards. Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish is one of the few to do it successfully; Post Malone is another. (Jelly Roll also came to country after being a hip-hop and then rock artist, but he didn’t become a massive star before moving into country music.) To really penetrate the country music industry, an artist coming from another genre generally needs to show up at country events, shake hands and mingle with the entire industry. Which is something that Beyonce – who rarely does any interviews anymore – is unlikely to want to do.
