Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” breaks streaming records

Last week, Beyoncé released “Cowboy Carter,” a 27-track country album the bends the genre and has already made history. Fans clearly can’t get enough of the album, which has already broken streaming records on several platforms.

Spotify announced on social media last week that on the day the album dropped, Friday, March 29, it became the platform’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.

“Cowboy Carter” also earned the title of most-first day streams of a country album by a female artist on Amazon Music. The album also saw Beyoncé’s biggest debut on the streaming platform, Amazon Music shared on social media.

Ahead of the album’s release, Beyoncé dropped two singles on Super Bowl Sunday: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” The former debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts, making Beyoncé the first Black woman to top that chart, according to Billboard.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” itself bends genres, landing on nine U.S. charts including pop, adult alternative, country, rhythmic, urban and R&B.

The album debuted at No. 2 on Apple Music charts and 26 out of 27 songs are currently on the streaming service’s top 100 list.

Beyoncé, a Houston native who is also the album’s executive producer, said in a statement it is “the best music I’ve ever made.”

The album features collaborations with stars like Miley Cyrus and versions of iconic songs like Dolly Parton’s 1973 hit “Jolene.” Parton and Willie Nelson also lend their voices to vignettes on the album, as does Linda Martell, the first commercially successful Black woman country artist.

Beyoncé also covers the 1968 song “Blackbird” by the Beatles, featuring Black country singer-songwriters Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. Her song “Protector” features audio from her 6-year-old daughter, Rumi, and she collaborates on two songs with rapper Shaboozey.

She also samples Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 song “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” on the track “Ya Ya.”

Sinatra reacted to the song on social media, writing: “To have a little piece of one of my records in a @Beyonce song is very meaningful to me because I love her. She represents what is great about today’s music and I’m delighted to be a tiny part of it. This may be the best sample of ‘Boots’ yet! And the beat goes on.”

Parton also posted about Beyoncé’s cover of “Jolene,” a scornful song with lyrics that warn a woman to stay away from your man. “Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it,” Parton wrote.