BEYONCé'S ACT II: EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT NEW ALBUM TITLED 'COWBOY CARTER'

Beyoncé has revealed the name of her highly anticipated "Act II" album as "Cowboy Carter" and has given fans new cover art and insight into the project ahead of its March 29 release date.

As fans know, Beyoncé released singles "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages" and announced the album during a surprise Super Bowl commercial.

The album is currently available for preorder, as is merchandise on her official site. Some of those items include a CDs and vinyl records with limited-edition covers and a boxset that appears to include a T-shirt.

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For the album cover, Beyoncé poses on a white horse, dubbed "Chardonneigh,"wearing a red, white and blue Western suit and carrying an American flag. In a limited-edition cover, the singer rocks braids with beads wearing only a sash.

The sash reads "Act II Beyincé." Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, has the maiden name of Beyoncé only because of an error on her birth certificate. The singer's maternal grandparents actually spelled their last name as '"Beyincé."

The album is "Act II" of a three-part series. The superstar released her first act, the "Renaissance" album, on July 29, 2022, through her company Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. "Act III" has not yet been announced.

Here's everything we know so far about the project.

Creating Cowboy Carter'

Beyoncé revealed the album was five years in the making. In an Instagram post, the Grammy-Award winning singer stated she was "honored" to make history as the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart but she still hopes for the day "the mention of an artist's race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant."

She says the album "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."

She's likely referencing her 2016 performance at the Country Music Association Awards, where she sang her "Lemonade" album track "Daddy Lessons" alongside The Chicks. While it was praised by some, she received backlash from others for hitting the stage.

"But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive," the singer wrote on Instagram. "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.

"The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. Act ii is a result of challenging myself and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work."

Will Beyoncé cover Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' on the album?

Fans have long suspected Beyoncé might collaborate with the Queen of Country, and recently Parton alluded to Knox News, part of the USA TODAY Network, that this might be the case with a sample or cover of her 1973 classic "Jolene."

"Well, I think she has! I think she's recorded 'Jolene,' and I think it's probably gonna be on her country album, which I'm very excited about that," Parton said earlier this month during a one-on-one interview about the season opening of Dollywood.

"I love her!" Parton said of Beyoncé. "She's a beautiful girl and a great singer."

In "Jolene," Parton pleads with a beautiful woman not to steal a man. Over the years, many artists have covered the song including hip hop star Lil Nas X, Parton's goddaughter Miley Cyrus and Wendy Moten.

Parton also spoke about Beyoncé on "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah."

"I would just love to hear 'Jolene' done in just a big way, kind of like how Whitney (Houston) did my 'I Will Always Love You,' just someone that can take my little songs and make them like powerhouses," she said. "That would be a marvelous day in my life if (Beyoncé) ever does do ‘Jolene.’”

Last month, Parton congratulated Beyoncé on her new country music, saying she couldn't wait for "Act II."

"We've kind of sent messages back and forth through the years," Parton told Knox News. "And she and her mother were like fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great."

Stream 'Texas Hold 'Em' and '16 Carriages': Singles hit Billboard charts

Within two days of their release, both "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages" garnered over 2 million views on YouTube. Within the first week, "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted at No. 54 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart. Both songs began leading country music playlists and charts on Apple Music and Spotify almost instantly.

By the end of February, "Texas Hold 'Em" topped several Billboard charts, and Beyoncé made history by becoming the first Black woman to reach No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart with the song. Simultaneously, "16 Carriages" hit No. 9 on the chart based on streaming, airplay and sales.

Which country artists are featured on Beyoncé's 'Act II' album?

According to the credits for her singles, Beyoncé features many different Black musicians on the album, namely those who have been notable in the country music world.

The single "Texas Hold 'Em" features Rhiannon Giddens on the banjo and the viola. As a Macarthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Giddens has dedicated her work to reclaiming the banjo's African and West African origins. She has spent her career educating the nation about the banjo and its roots in Black culture before becoming a predominantly white instrument.

"16 Carriages" features Robert Randolph on steel guitar, along with Justin Schipper.

Fans also believe zydeco musician Dwayne Dopsie helped record a song after he mentioned possibly putting a zydeco twist on one of Queen Bey's tunes in a since-deleted social media post.

Dopsie is the accordionist and vocalist for his New Orleans-based band. Zydeco originated in Southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers. The music genre is a mix of rhythm and blues, blues and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and Native American people of Louisiana.

Given the potential artists on the project, fans have theorized Beyoncé may have worked on the upcoming album or recorded parts of it in her hometown of Houston, Texas, Louisiana and the heart of country music — Nashville.

It is a matter of weeks until fans will finally get to listen.

Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network's Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Beyoncé's Act II: Everything to know about new album titled 'Cowboy Carter'

2024-03-12T18:30:44Z dg43tfdfdgfd