Cowboy Carter Trivia | 40 facts about Beyonce’s latest album

Cowboy Carter is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Beyonce, that was released on March 29, 2024.

Let’s find out more about it!

1. Cowboy Carter (also referred to as Act II: Cowboy Carter or Act II: Beyincé on initial physical pressings) is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Beyoncé.
2. It was released on March 29, 2024, via Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records.
3. The album is the second installment of Beyoncé’s trilogy project conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic, following Renaissance (2022).
4. Mostly labeled a country and Western album, Cowboy Carter blends various genres.
5. Conceptually, Cowboy Carter is presented as a broadcast by a fictional radio station (called KNTRY Radio) in Texas, with country singers Dolly Parton, Linda Martell and Willie Nelson acting as radio DJs.
6. The album also features lesser known country artists such as Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey and Willie Jones, and has contributions from Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, Rhiannon Giddens and Jon Batiste, among others.
7. Two co-lead singles supported the album—”Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”.
8. Beyoncé originally intended to release Cowboy Carter as the first installment of her trilogy project, but explained that “with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world”, and so released Renaissance first, because “[people] deserved to dance.”
9. The then-untitled album was first announced on February 11, 2024, during Super Bowl LVIII, when Verizon Communications aired a Super Bowl commercial, titled “Can’t B Broken”.
10. In that Beyoncé tried to “break the Internet” through increasingly outlandish means, such as releasing a jazz saxophone record, performing on top of the Las Vegas Sphere, building an artificial intelligence (AI) version of herself, launching a “BarBEY” (portmanteau of Barbie and Beyoncé) collection, announcing her candidacy for a fictional political position, and flying into space for a performance.
11. After all of the ideas proved unsuccessful, Beyoncé concluded the commercial by remarking: “Okay, they ready. Drop the new music”.
12. Following the broadcast, Beyoncé released a teaser video for Act II on Instagram.
13. Directed by British artist and filmmaker Nadia Lee Cohen, the video pays homage to Paris, Texas (1984), references border blasters and features Chuck Berry’s 1955 track “Maybellene”.
14. The same day, the singer’s official website was updated to announce her eighth studio album, with the placeholder name Act II, scheduled for release on March 29.
15. Subsequently, the album’s two lead singles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”, were simultaneously made available for digital download and streaming.
16. On March 12, Beyoncé announced the album would be titled Cowboy Carter via a teaser poster of a western saddle with a sash.
17. With this she listed album merchandise of limited-edition CDs with a bonus track, T-shirts, and vinyl variants in red, white, blue and standard black.
18. On March 19, 2024, Beyoncé revealed the album cover via Instagram, and said there would be “surprises” and collaborations on the album.
19. On March 20, she revealed a limited edition exclusive cover, wearing a sash that reads “act ii BEYINCÉ”, referencing her mother Tina’s generational family surname.
20. Taglines and film stills for the album were projected onto various museums in New York City.
21. One of these was an unauthorized projection onto the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, who genially responded by posting Franz Marc’s 1910 painting Three Horses Drinking with the Texas Hold ‘Em-inspired caption “This ain’t Texas”.
22. Beyoncé also posted co-ordinates to the museum on her Instagram story.
23. Upon release, Cowboy Carter received universal acclaim.
24. Critics are praising Beyoncé’s blending of diverse musical genres, vocal performance and exploration of her roots.
25. Publications reported that the album ignited discussions on Black musicians’ place within country music, boosted the listenership of Black country artists and country radio in general, and increased the popularity of Western wear and culture.
26. On March 27, Beyoncé posted a graphic to Instagram of the album’s tracklist inspired by vintage posters from the Chitlin’ Circuit era.
27. It revealed collaborations with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, as well as a cover of the former’s “Jolene”, and “The Linda Martell Show”.
28. The latter song references Linda Martell, the first Black woman to achieve commercial success in the country genre.
29. The CD release comes in four variant.
30. Each one has a different rear cover depicting Beyonce, namely “Snake Face”, “Bead Face”, “Cowboy Hat” and “Blonde Hair”.
31. It was released in Japan on March 29, and will be released on April 12 in Europe.
32. The Cowboy Carter album cover was shot by Texan photographer Blair Caldwell.
33. Much like the cover for Renaissance—which saw Beyoncé sitting atop a stationary disco ball horse—the Cowboy Carter artwork sees Beyoncé atop a gray Lipizzan at full gallop.
34. She rides the horse sidesaddle (historically a style associated with high-status women), dressed in a red, white and blue one-piece, a cowboy hat, and a sash reading “Cowboy Carter”.
35. She holds the horse’s reins in one hand and a large American flag in the other.
36. The imagery is reminiscent of rodeo queens, who similarly carry the flag while riding their horse after winning the title.
37. If you’ll remember, the insinuation of Jay-Z’s infidelity was first made public years ago when Bey sang, “you better call Becky with the good hair” on the “Lemonade” album track, “Sorry,” back in 2016. In the lead-up to Beyonce’s version of “Jolene,” Dolly Parton does a fitting callback to that moment, saying in an interlude.
38. “Cowboy Carter” was also influenced by Spaghetti westerns, Blaxploitation films, and “the original Black cowboys of the American West.”
39. Critics praised Beyoncé’s blending of diverse musical genres and vocal performance, and described the album as both a grand political statement and a personal ode to Beyoncé’s roots.
40. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album received a weighted average score of 91 from 100 based on six reviews, indicating “universal acclaim” – this makes Cowboy Carter the most acclaimed album of 2024.