Beyoncé is all the talk of country music right now. (I never thought I would be typing that sentence).
The pop superstar set the music world on fire when she dropped two new songs during the Super Bowl, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
and “16 Carriages,” as well as a Western-themed teaser video.
And while she didn’t officially announce that her upcoming album, Renaissance: Act II, would be a “country” album, the latest single has since been sent to country radio (after initially only being serviced to Pop, Adult Contemporary, Rhythmic, R&B, and Urban).
“Texas Hold ‘Em” has already been a massive hit, becoming Beyoncé’s first #1 hit in country music when it debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart – the first time a black female artist has debuted at #1 on that chart.
Now, of course there’s been plenty of debate about just how country the song really is. But that can be said about a lot of the music being released by artists who consider themselves country too.
And plenty of artists have spoken out about Beyoncé making her debut in country music, with legends like Dolly Parton congratulating the pop star on her #1 country hit and expressing her excitement for the upcoming album.
But when the Grand Ole Opry shared Dolly’s post and said they were excited to welcome Beyoncé to the Opry someday, country fans destroyed them in the comments.
So yeah, there’s been quite a big of debate for the past few weeks.
But I know what everybody’s been thinking: I need Maren Morris to weigh in on this.
I mean, she weighs in on everything else so it was only a matter of time before we got Maren’s thoughts on her fellow pop singer deciding to go country (after Maren decided to go the opposite direction and leave country music…kind of, maybe?).
Well luckily for us, Maren recently shared her thoughts on Beyoncé going country during an interview ahead of the Billboard Women in Music 2024 event.
When asked what she listened to while getting ready (because that’s obviously the most important question here), Maren revealed that she had been listening to “Texas Hold ‘Em” by her fellow Texas native.
And she also said she thinks it’s “important” for Beyoncé to represent black people in country music:
“I think her really, in a very purposeful way, reclaiming country music to black people, because they invented the genre, is so astounding and important. So, I mean, slay.”
So if you’ve just been waiting to hear what Maren thinks before making up your mind on the song, well, there you go.