Beyoncé becomes first black woman to score number one country album with 'Cowboy Carter'

Beyoncé has made history Cowboy Carter as she became the first black woman to ever top Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Cowboy Carter It also debuted as the Number One album – the eighth to top the Billboard 200 – in the country overall, Billboard announced on Sunday.

Beyoncé dethroned Morgan Wallen One thing at a time for the Country crown, beating out Future and Metro Boomin's We Don't Trust You on the Top Albums list. With over 407,000 units earned in the US, Cowboy Carter is by far the biggest debut album of 2024, the best We Don't Trust You, which earned 131,000 in its second week. Along with the equivalent of more than 300 million on-demand streams, the album was boosted by an additional 168,000 traditional album sales.

Cowboy Carter marks Beyoncé's biggest opening debut since 2016 Lemonade, which opened with more than 650,000 units at the time, when streaming still dominated as the primary form of listening.

While several black artists such as Charlie Pride, Darius Rucker and Kane Brown have topped the Country Albums chart over the decades, until now, no black woman had accomplished the feat, speaking of Beyoncé's streak as superstar artist as much as the issues of diversity that remain within the genre.

The feat comes more than a month after Beyoncé set a similar record with “Texas Hold 'Em,” which became the first song by a black woman to top the Hot Country Songs chart. “Texas Hold 'Em” topped the Country Songs chart for about seven weeks, and Apple Music and Spotify placed it at the top of their country playlists upon release. (When Cowboy Carter came out, Apple Music pushed Beyoncé's “Jolene” to the top of the country playlist.)

Cowboy Carter features country legends Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, along with collaborations with Miley Cyrus and Post Malone. Cowboy Carter brought renewed intrigue around frontman Linda Martell, who contributed to the LP and whom Beyoncé voices on the album.

With the release of the full album, attention turns to how much country radio attention it will garner. “Texas Hold 'Em” was one of the most added songs in the country market when it first appeared, but never topped Number 33 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart. As of Sunday, “Jolene” reached number 56 on the chart.

With Cowboy Carter's album placement solidified, the question is where the album's tracks land on the Hot 100 tomorrow and whether it can fend off the upcoming Future and Metro We Still Don't Trust You to spend a second week at the top. Stay tuned.