Queen Bey dropped her long-awaited sequel Renaissance March 29.
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Beyoncé performs on stage during her RENAISSANCE WORLD tour at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 11, 2023 in Atlanta.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood
BeyoncéHer turn to country — starting with the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Texas Hold 'Em” and fellow single “16 Carriages” followed by the announcement of her latest album Cowboy Carter — shocked many listeners. But the surprises did not stop there.
After the record dropped at midnight on Friday (March 29), marking the start of the second act of Bey's 2022 album Renaissance, fans were thrilled to see that the tracklist was packed with featured artists. The guest roster includes legendary country pioneers — including a Dolly Parton-featured the new spin on Parton's classic “Jolene” — as well as a handful of modern-day stars holding the genre together in 2024, as well as a pair of fellow pop titans who've also dabbled in the world of cowboy boots and fiddles. (Spoiler alert: This description includes, but is not limited to, a specific “Hoedown Throwdown” singer.)
The level of participation each partner has Cowboy Carter it ranges from clever vocal notes modeled after on-air disc jockey transitions — in service of Bey's KNTRY radio concept — to full-on duets. It's probably best to get this out of the way now, though: neither Lady Gaga nor Taylor Swift are official contributors to the LP, even though both were rumored to be. Sorry, “'Telephone' Pt. Real 2,” as well as fans who enjoyed seeing Beyoncé and Taylor appear at each other's concert film premieres last year. Maybe next time.
From Dolly P to Miley C, keep reading to see a breakdown of all the artists Honey B features on her amazing new project, listed in alphabetical order below.
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Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts
Image credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BRELAND & Friends
Dance floor: “Blackbird”.
In February, Tanner Adell he tweeted: “As one of the only black girls in the country music scene, I hope Bey decides to sprinkle me with her magic for a collab.”
Just over a month later, the rising star was revealed to be featured alongside other black women emerging on the modern country scene — Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts — in Beyoncé's glowing cover of The Beatles' “Blackbird.”
Paul McCartney wrote the track in 1968 in Barry Miles' 1997 book Many years from now: “I had in mind a black woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which we all cared about so passionately, so this was really a song from me to a black woman who was dealing with these problems in the United States: “Let me encourage you to carry on try, keep faith, there is hope.”
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Rumi Carter
Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation
Dance floor: “Prostate”
Rumi Carter is following in the footsteps of big sister Blue Ivy – who previously appeared on her mom's tracks 'Blue' and 'Brown Skin Girl' for The Lion King album — making a cameo appearance on “Protector.”
“Mom, can I hear the lullaby?” she cooks at the beginning of the song. “Please?”
Bey's youngest daughter and Sher, Rumi's twin brother, turn 7 in June.
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Miley Cyrus
Image source: Jonnie Chambers
Dance floor: “II Most Wanted”
Bey's silky voice blends in gorgeous harmony with Miley Cyrus' cracking alto in this unexpected but glorious duet about finding mutual strength in a ride-or-die collaboration. “It came out of nowhere gave no warning/ Pedal as heavy as the two most wanted,” the two women sing. “I don't know what you're doing tonight/But I'll be your shotgun rider till the day I die.”
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Willie Jones
Image credit: Sean Robinson
Dance floor: “For fun”
“I'm headed south just for fun, I'm the man, I know it/ And wherever I go, I hide my face,” Willie Jones joins Bey on the second verse of this mid-list checkpoint. “From the cowboys and the shamrocks and the rodeo circus/ I came here for a reason, but I don't know the purpose.”
Jones got his first big break at age 17 The coefficient x. Since then, he has released two studio albums – most recently, 2023's Something to dance to.
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Post Malone
Image credit: Adam DeGross
Dance floor: “Levi's Jeans”
Beyoncé has lassoed with fellow Texan Post Malone on a sexy ode inspired by one of America's most iconic denim brands. “Come here my hot baby/ Take a picture bring it,” Posti sings in his instantly recognizable croon after a lead from Bey. “Oh girl, I wish I was your Levi's/ The way you hear on my phone.”
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Linda Martell
Image credit: Sean Rayford/2021 CMT Awards/Getty Images for CMT
Pieces: “Spaghettii” & “The Linda Martell Show”
Linda Martell is the rightful star of Bey's musical shrine in country music history, appearing with Shaboozey on “Spaghettii” as well as the interlude named in her honor between “Flamenco” and “Ya Ya.” The 82-year-old singer-songwriter is a pioneering country artist, and became the first black female soloist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 1969.
“Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they? Yes, it is,” she says in her first Cowboy Carter appearance. “In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand, but in practice, then, some may feel limited.”
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Willie Nelson
Image Source: Pamela Springsteen
Dance floor: “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson” & “Smoke Hour II”
One of country music's greatest and best-known living legends gets his moment in not one, but two intermissions Cowboy Carter — 20 full years after Bey posed in a Willie Nelson t-shirt on his cover Texas Monthly.
“Welcome to 'The Smoke Hour' on KNTRY Radio Texas,” Nelson says during his first segment. “You know my name, you don't need to know yours. Now for this next tune, I want you all to sit back, breathe in, and go to that good place where your mind likes to wander. And if you don't want to go, go find a jukebox.”
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Dolly Parton
Image credit: Miller Mobley/NBC via Getty Images
Dance floor: “Dolly P”
Dolly Parton lent her signature vocal note that plays right before Beyoncé covers one of country's most famous hits, “Jolene,” on the next track.
“Hey Miss Honey B, it's Dolly P,” the star opens her message, before referencing Becky's iconic line “Becky with the good hair” in Lemonade.
“You know that Hussy with the good hair you were singing about? She reminded me of someone I knew when, except she has flaming auburn hair, bless her heart,” Parton continued. “A hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
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Shaboozey
Image credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Dream Hotels
Pieces: “Spaghettii” & “Sweet Honey Buckin”
“Outlaws with me, they gonna shoot/ Keep the code, break the rules,” Shaboozey spits on “Spaghettii,” which is essentially the Wild West set to a Beyoncé song. “We'll walk for every limb we lose/ Somebody here brought fire, no telling who.”
The new album from the Virginia artist Where I've been is not where I'm going it arrives just a few months later Cowboy Carterdrop on May 31st.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/beyonce-collaborators-cowboy-carter-every-featured-artist-album/