Beyoncé is making country music history.
via People:
On Tuesday, Billboard revealed that the “Alien Superstar” musician, 42, became the first-ever Black female artist to top the Hot Country Songs chart thanks to her single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which also debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart.
“Texas Hold ‘Em,” which was officially serviced to country radio on Feb. 13, took the top spot from Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves whose duet “I Remember Everything” has sat at No. 1 for 20 weeks.
The track amassed 19.2 million official streams and 4.8 million in all-format airplay audience, with 39,000 sales in the U.S. through Feb. 15, per Luminate.
Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are the only solo female artists who have debuted at No. 1 on the chart, with the latter claiming the top spot with “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” in 2021.
The 32-time Grammy winner also made history as the first female artist to claim the top spot on Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since October 1958 when the lists became “all-encompassing genre song charts,” per Billboard.
The only other artists to have led these charts are Morgan Wallen, Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus and Ray Charles.
“16 Carriages,” which was released alongside “Texas Hold ‘Em” on Feb. 11, debuted at No. 9 on the Hot Country Songs chart and began at No. 38 on the Hot 100 chart.
It has garnered 10.3 million streams, 90,000 in radio and 14,000 in sales.
Beyoncé surprised fans by releasing “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” during the Super Bowl, shortly after her ad with Verizon aired and sharing a teaser for her next album, act ii, which is due in March.
She shared a teaser on Instagram that appeared to be inspired by the classic 1984 western Paris, Texas, featuring a group of bystanders in the desert staring at her billboard while a clip of “Texas Hold ‘Em” played in the background.
The full project, which is currently untitled but being referred to as act ii of Renaissance, is set for release March 29. It comes a little over a year and a half after the release of the music icon’s house-inspired record dropped in summer 2022.
Yee-haw!
