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Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to top country charts with “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Beyoncé on Wednesday became the first Black woman to score a No. 1 hit in the history of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, after “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted at the top of the chart.
“Texas Hold ‘Em,” a twangy, feel-good ode to the pop superstar’s home state, and the lead single off her forthcoming eighth studio album, dropped during the Super Bowl, alongside another track titled “16 Carriages,” immediately after a Verizon commercial starring Beyoncé.
The new album, which appears to be country, will be released on March 29 and was described as “act ii” of the three-act project that began with Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed “Renaissance” album, which she released in 2022.
Wednesday’s milestone marked a cultural shift for country music, a genre often seen as exclusive and that for decades has had a fraught relationship with artists of color. With “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Beyoncé finally trumped the record set by Linda Martell more than 50 years ago, when her song “Color Him Father,” which peaked at No. 22, became the highest-ranking single by a Black woman on the country charts, according to Billboard.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Beyoncé also became the first woman to have topped both the country and R&B/hip-hop charts since the genre song charts were launched in 1958, Billboard reported, adding that she joins Morgan Wallen, Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus and Ray Charles as the only acts to have led both charts.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” also debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart, right below Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” and right above Kanye West and Ty Dollar $ign’s new song “Carnival.” It marks her 22nd top-ten single on the general charts, Billboard reported, signaling no end in sight to the singer’s adventurous, indefatigable and, by most accounts, legendary 27-year career.
Beyoncé’s bold foray into country almost immediately sparked controversy, after KYKC-FM, a country radio radio station in Oklahoma, initially declined to play the artist. The station manager later told CBS News he hadn’t known Beyoncé had released two country songs and confirmed he had added “Texas Hold ‘Em” to the station’s playlist.
“We have always celebrated Cowboy Culture growing up in Texas,” Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother, wrote on Instagram alongside a montage of Beyoncé over the years wearing cowboy hats, responding to allegations the singer had made an abrupt or exploitative genre jump.
“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,” Tina Knowles added, noting that she had taken Beyoncé and her sister Solange to rodeos annually when they were children, adorned in Western clothing. “It was definitely part of our culture growing up.”
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In Hollywood, a land known for marquees and famous signs, there’s probably no sign that’s more on the nose than the store Just Food For Dogs. There, four-legged customers sample today’s offerings, while their owners stock up on the food.
Sarah Rector and her French bulldog, Lulu, are buying her regular order, including beef with russet potato, and venison with squash. Rector says she feels better buying the store’s food for Lulu rather than commercial dog food: “I just know that she’s getting the best possible, like, ingredients and health and overall wellness.”
She and her husband don’t have children, yet, but they have another French bulldog, “so I feel like we have kids.”
It’s tempting to write this off as a trendy L.A. fad, but Just Food For Dogs president Carey Tischler says this store is here because of a permanent shift in the roughly $50 billion U.S. pet food industry. “The last year of research shows that 82% of families think of pets as family, or as children, and that’s up significantly,” he said.
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Joe Ovalle is Just Food’s guest experience manager. He says all of their pet food is approved by the USDA for human consumption. “It is human-grade food, something you and I could eat,” he said.
He sampled one of their recipes, for fish and sweet potato. “Oh my God, it’s like ceviche,” he smiled.
It may seem a bit indulgent, and can cost double the price of Kibbles, but some say that feeding our dogs natural food is what we should have been doing all along – and making it yourself can cost the same as buying food from the store.
“It’s about going back to what is biologically appropriate, that they ate for tens of thousands of years,” said pet nutritionist Christine Filardi. “They ate prey animals and table scraps. So, I’m just educating people on how to go back to what they ate for tens of thousands of years prior to commercial pet food.”
Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Filardi is author of “Home Cooking For Your Dog,” a cookbook offering recipes with what she says are the three necessities: animal protein, a carb, and a veggie, as well as a few extravagant treats, like her bacon and cream cheese muffins.
Filardi says whether it’s store-bought or home-cooked fresh food, the results are the same: well-fed animals live longer, have cheaper vet bills, and are happier … which makes the owners happy, too.
“They take such good care of us,” she said. “We should take good care of them.”
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Hearty Hamburgers
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Friday Playdate Pizza
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Bacon and Cream Cheese Muffins
RECIPE (FOR DOGS): Ground Turkey, Quinoa, and Carrots
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Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Joseph Frandino.
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