Luke Bryan Says Beyoncé Should Join The Country Family For CMA Recognition
Luke Bryan recently shared his thoughts on Beyoncé’s absence from the 2024 CMA Award nominations, and he had a lot to say. During a conversation on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, Luke was asked about the buzz surrounding Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album being snubbed by the CMAs. His response? It’s complicated.
“It made a lot of news that Beyoncé didn’t get any CMA nominations. How did that register with you?” Andy asked the country star, who’s no stranger to the award show, having won CMA Entertainer of the Year twice.
Luke started off by acknowledging Beyoncé’s massive fanbase, the Beyhive, but quickly dove into the heart of the matter. “It’s a tricky question because, obviously Beyoncé made a country album and Beyoncé has a lot of fans out there that have her back. And if she doesn’t get something they want, man, they come at you,” Luke said, alluding to the passionate support Beyoncé receives from her fans.
However, Luke shared a bit more insight into why the Country Music Association may have passed over the global superstar. “Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about that,” he continued. “But where things get a little tricky and, and you know — if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit. Beyoncé can do it 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.”
Luke clarified that he wasn’t criticizing Beyoncé personally, but felt that to truly be part of the country music community, artists need to engage with the culture. “And I’m not saying she didn’t do that,” he added.
This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has dipped her toes into country music. In 2016, she performed her song Daddy Lessons at the CMAs with The Chicks. While the performance drew mixed reactions — especially due to The Chicks being blacklisted after their stance on the Iraq War — it was a bold crossover moment. In an interview with Vulture, The Chicks recalled feeling a “weird vibe” during the performance, with reports that country legend Alan Jackson even walked out during the show.
Despite the mixed reactions, Beyoncé has remained dedicated to blending genres. Ahead of the release of Cowboy Carter, she posted on Instagram about her journey into country music, reflecting on a past experience where she didn’t feel welcomed in the genre. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote, adding that her album was about bending and blending genres.
Other country icons have weighed in on the situation as well. Dolly Parton, who gave Beyoncé the go-ahead to put her own spin on the classic Jolene, shared her perspective on why Beyoncé may have been left out of the nominations. Speaking to Variety, Dolly said, “There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that.”
Still, Dolly praised Beyoncé’s album. “But it was a wonderful album. She can be very, very proud of, and I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good. So I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album,” the Jolene singer continued.
Kelly Clarkson also chimed in, expressing her surprise that the Crazy In Love hitmaker wasn’t nominated. “I kind of find it fascinating because I feel like those songs were everywhere,” she said, reflecting on her own challenges breaking into the country world.
“That’s a hard industry—even for me,” she admitted, recalling how she was told she wouldn’t be played if she didn’t stick exclusively to country.
