Billboard revealed that Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ has reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, making her the first-ever Black female artist to achieve the feat since the chart’s launch in January 1964. In February, Beyoncé became the first-ever Black female artist to top the Hot Country Songs chart with the album’s lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s eighth album, also reached the top spot on the Billboard 200, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts, having sold 407,000 equivalent album units in its first week of chart eligibility. Cowboy Carter claims the biggest week of 2024 and the largest since Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version), with 1.653 million units on the Nov. 11, 2023-dated list. The feat also marks Beyoncé’s biggest week by units, since her Lemonade album debuted at No. 1 with 653,000 units (mostly from traditional album sales) on the May 14, 2016, chart. The new effort also lands Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever.
Cowboy Carter was released on March 29, and features “vocalists, musicians, and orators” including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Jon Batiste, Rhiannon Giddens, Nile Rodgers, Robert Randolph, Gary Clark, Jr., Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Additional collaborators on the project include The-Dream, Pharrell Williams, NO I.D., Raphael Saadiq, Ryan Tedder, Ryan Beatty, Swizz Beatz, Khirye Tyler, Derek Dixie, Ink, Nova Wav, Mamii, Cam, Tyler Johnson, Dave Hamelin and Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter.
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