Queen Bey reigns supreme! Beyoncé just made history, becoming the first black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with her new single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which she dropped alongside “16 Carriages” in a surprise Super Bowl commercial at the time of the announcement.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” has landed at No. 1 on the list, moving Beyoncé into No. 1 on that chart and also scoring her as the second-ever solo female artist (without features) to land on the throne since Taylor Swift back in 2021. She’s also the first woman to lead both the Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts since they began in 1958 and stands among Justin Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ray Charles, and Morgan Wallen.
It did not come without a whole lot of controversy over the song’s success. Some people doubted it was even really a country song and argued this in an online debate. After being turned down by an Oklahoma radio station, “Texas Hold ‘Em” now ranks as official country radio promotion and has even hit No. 54 on the Country Airplay chart.
For Beyoncé, her journey has been one of the wider discussions around genre and representation. In 2019, the country charts excluded Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” despite its country elements. Equally, Beyoncé’s “Daddy Lessons” was shut out of the Country Grammys in 2016—that is, until she collaborated with the Dixie Chicks at the Country Music Association awards and such boundaries turned on their heads, spurring discussions about representation and changing ideas of what constitutes “country.”
“Texas Hold ‘Em” is the latest evidence of Beyoncé’s musical artistry in music, raising questions and important dialogues about representation in country music. Through its chart-topping debut, such a work turns into a historical moment for Beyoncé personally and country music more broadly.
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