Beyoncé Channeled Her Inner Cowgirl With a Bandanna-Print Set and Diamond Bolo Tie

The superstar’s country-inspired record dares to question who belongs within the quintessentially “American” genre

For the last decade, Beyoncé has rejected the rigid and constricting pathways of pop stardom. While artists can get lost within the idea of themselves decades into their careers, Beyoncé has managed to maintain a sense of intrigue and a culture-shifting level of relevance. More importantly, she’s continued to keep her haters mad. It’s quite possibly her strongest superpower.

Cowboy Carter, the singer’s eighth studio album and “Act II” of a three-part project that began with 2022’s Renaissance, is her latest effort at maintaining her status as a musical enigma. Her most loyal fans have predicted she’d release a country album for quite some time, since she first experimented with the genre with “Daddy Lessons” on 2016’s Lemonade. She later performed the track alongside country’s own controversial queens, the Chicks, at the Country Music Association Awards that year—a moment that earned the awards show its highest-rated 15-minute broadcast ever, while simultaneously enraging what felt like all of Middle America (as well as Kenny Chesney, who looked particularly perturbed during the performance). Ten days before Cowboy Carter was released into the world, Beyoncé alluded to that moment—in which, despite being arguably the biggest star in the world, she felt unwelcome and unwanted—as the ultimate inspiration for pursuing a larger country project.

“This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” the singer shared on Instagram. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history

Beyoncé Channeled Her Inner Cowgirl With a Bandanna-Print Set and Diamond Bolo Tie