Eric Todisco 
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Beyoncé‘s upcoming country album finally has a name! The 32-time Grammy Award winner confirmed the name of her album as Cowboy Carter. Up until now, fans dubbed the album Renaissance Act II, and she teased her new music in a Verizon commercial during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11. After the commercial aired, Bey, 42, announced the album’s release date on her Instagram — and then she dropped two new songs that are both featured on Renaissance Act II!
On February 20, 2024, news dropped that “Texas Hold ‘Em” made Queen Bey the first Black woman to have a number 1 hit country song, per Billboard. “16 Carriages” also made the list, coming in at number 9 on Billboard’s list.
The upcoming country-themed album is the second part of a trilogy project that began with Renaissance, her seventh studio album, which came out on July 29, 2022. Beyoncé embarked on the Renaissance World Tour from May 2023 to October 2023 and also released an accompanying documentary concert film, called Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce.
With the new record coming soon, fans have been speculating about a lot of details for the album. Below is everything you need to know about Beyoncé’s upcoming country album, Cowboy Carter.
When Does Beyonce’s Country Album Come Out?
Cowboy Carter will be released on Friday, March 29. Bey confirmed the release date in an Instagram video promoting the new album on Super Bowl Sunday.
What Songs Are On Beyonce’s Country Album?
Beyoncé hasn’t unveiled the full track list for the album, but she did release the two lead singles: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” Both songs are country-themed, seemingly as an homage to Beyoncé’s Texas roots. On February 20, Billboard dropped the news that “Texas Hold ‘Em” landing on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 2, and “16 Carriages” made the list at number 38. The former landed at number one on the Hot Country List, and the latter at number 9.
She makes history as the first Black woman to top the country charts.
What Has Beyonce Said About Her Country Album?
Beyoncé first teased Cowboy Carter in the Verizon commercial that aired during the 2024 Super Bowl. The ad features Bey enacting several publicity stunts to crash Verizon’s 5G feature. She eventually resorts to “drop[ping] the new music.”
After the commercial aired, Beyoncé released the first teaser video for the album on Instagram. It features the “Halo” singer driving a taxi cab through Texas. A group of people look up to see a billboard of Beyoncé waving in a country hat, as her vocals in a country twang play in the background. After she drives away, the screen cuts to black to reveal the album’s release date (March 29).
Beyoncé also dropped two cover art images for the album. The first shows Beyoncé wearing a black blazer with a metallic cup bra and matching underwear, as well as a black cowboy hat and massive silver earrings. The second cover art image is in-black-and-white, featuring Beyoncé in a black cowboy hat and a black Western-style shirt.
Beyoncé previously spoke about her three-part Renaissance project in Harper’s Bazaar’s September 2021 cover story. “I feel a renaissance emerging, and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible,” she said. “I’ve been in the studio for a year and a half. Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies. Still, there’s nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio. After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old. Yes, the music is coming!”
In a February 16, 2024, Instagram post, Bey’s mom Tina Knowles also had something to say about the album. “We have always celebrated Cowboy Culture growing up in Texas,” she wrote. “We also always understood that it was not just about it belonging to White culture only. In Texas there is a huge black cowboy culture. Why do you think that my kids have integrated it into their fashion and art since the beginning.”
She added, “When people ask why is Beyonce wearing cowboy hats? It’s really funny, I actually laugh because it’s been there since she was a kid, we went to rodeos every year and my whole family dressed in western fashion. Solange did a whole brilliant Album and Project based on Black Cowboy Culture. It definitely was a part of our culture growing up.”
Does Beyonce Have Any Collaborators on Her New Album?
While details about any possible features on the full track list are still set to come, a new popular fan theory surfaced once it was revealed that Queen B was making a country album. Some fans believed that Taylor Swift might be making an appearance, given her country roots. Unfortunately for both fanbases, a source close to the situation revealed that the Midnights singer isn’t making an appearance in a report from Entertainment Weekly. Still, there’s plenty of room for other features, and the Beyhive will just have to wait and see!
