Luke Bryan Clarifies Beyonce Comments: ‘I Want Everyone To Win’
Luke Bryan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to elaborate on some of his comments about Beyonce’s lack of CMA Award nominations. The nominations were announced last month. Some of Beyonce’s fans were upset that her album, Cowboy Carter, wasn’t nominated for any awards.
What Did Luke Bryan Say?
Luke Bryan was recently asked about Beyonce’s lack of nominations at the CMAs. He acknowledged that Beyonce’s fans are very intense and wanted to see her nominated for awards at the event. But, he noted, not everyone who releases country albums gets nominated for awards at country music award shows. He said, “Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about it. But where things get a little tricky — if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit. Like, Beyoncé can do exactly what she wants to. She’s probably the biggest star in music. But come to an award show and high-five us and have fun and get in the family, too. And I’m not saying she didn’t do that … but country music is a lot about family.”
What Did Luke Bryan Add On X?
Luke posted the following: “I am posting tonight based on the ridiculous nature of the headlines I have read the last couple days from an interview… I did this week when I was promoting my album. I feel in my heart I could not let media create a false narrative. As I read thru the comments of some of you I just want to say that I encourage all of you to listen to the interview instead of reading click bait headlines. You will hear my tone and intentions which were not negative. I respect Beyonce and I love how loyal her fans are. I spend a lot of time supporting other artists. I want everyone to win.” See the full message here.
Was Luke Bryan Wrong?
Not really. There have been very few artists from outside of country who have been able make a major impact as a country artist. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Sheryl Crow are two examples of major artists who made “country” albums and didn’t get lots of radio play or win awards. Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish is one of the few to do it successfully; Post Malone is another. Both of them have worked with Nashville writers on their country albums. Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion features a number of well known country songwriters, including Ashley Gorley, Chris Thompkins, Rhett Atikins, Dean Dillon and Jessie Jo Dillon. Beyonce’s album featured cameos by country icons Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Linda Martell, and a collaboration with Post Malone, but she didn’t work with songwriters and producers from Nashville.
Jelly Roll also came to country music after being a hip-hop and then rock artist, but he was more of an underground artist in those genres. He didn’t become a massive star before moving into country music. To really penetrate the country music industry, an artist coming from another genre generally needs to show up at country events, shake hands and mingle with the entire industry. Which is something that Beyonce – who rarely does any interviews anymore – is unlikely to want to do.
