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After reaching Billboard’s country charts for the first time with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Beyoncé makes her first appearance on a rock radio airplay tally with the buzzy, banjo-inflected single.

The song debuts at No. 36 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart dated March 9. It’s Beyoncé’s maiden placement on any of Billboard’s rock-based airplay lists (Adult Alternative Airplay, Alternative Airplay, Mainstream Rock Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay). Adult Alternative Airplay reflects songs’ weekly plays on a panel of 50 adult alternative-formatted stations, with data, as monitored by Mediabase, provided to Billboard by Luminate. The format encompasses music under the umbrella of Americana, including material considered more specifically folk, country, blues, soul or other related styles.

The leader in spins for “Texas Hold ‘Em” on the Adult Alternative Airplay panel Feb. 23-29 was KVYN in Napa Valley, Calif. The station played the song 45 times in that span.

“KVYN decided to get on this Beyoncé track right away, mostly to support her musical evolution and dabbling in American roots music,” KVYN program director Nate Campbell tells Billboard. “So far, it’s working in our rotation and we’re happy to have ‘Country Beyoncé’ in our mix.”

Beyoncé’s dad has revealed that she loved country music as a baby.

Following the release of the music superstar’s country songs “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” her father has revealed that she has been a country music fan from a young age.

In an interview with the BBC Asian Network, Matthew Knowles explained that Beyoncé often spent time with her country music-loving grandfather in Alabama as a child.

“When Beyoncé was a little baby, and I’m talking two-three years old, she would go down and spend the summer with my parents,” the record executive said. “And her grandfather – my father – loved country music, and he used to sing to her. At an early age, she heard this music.”

Matthew, 72, added, “And when you’re two, three years old, subconsciously music stays in your head.”

During the interview, Matthew – who was his daughter’s manager until 2011 – noted that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Beyoncé’s crossover from R&B and pop to country music was inspired by her early years.

Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” draws the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Global 200 chart, lifting from No. 4. The song is the superstar’s first leader on the list (which began in September 2020).

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” jumps to No. 1, from No. 4, where it debuted a week earlier, on the Billboard Global 200, with 59.6 million streams (up 86%) and 43,000 sold (down 10%) worldwide Feb. 16-22. Dating to the chart’s 2020 start, she previously reached the top 10 with “Break My Soul,” which hit No. 6 in 2022.

Notably, “Texas Hold ‘Em” is the second Global 200 No. 1, among 54 total so far, that has topped Billboard’s U.S.-based Hot Country Songs chart, joining Taylor Swift’s 2021 leader “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version).”

Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” shuffles to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a week after it debuted at No. 2. The superstar earns her ninth leader on the list, and her first since “Break My Soul” in 2022.

A week earlier, the single became the superstar’s historic first No. 1 on the multimetric Hot Country Songs survey; prior to the triumph for “Texas Hold ‘Em,” no Black woman, or female known to be biracial, had previously topped the chart.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” is one of two songs that Beyoncé released Feb. 11 (with instrumental and clean and explicit a cappella versions of the song released Feb. 14), along with “16 Carriages.” The arrival of both tracks was announced via a Verizon commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, ahead of the March 29 release of her new album, which follows her 2022 Renaissance LP.

“Texas Hold ‘Em,” on Parkwood/Columbia Records/Columbia Nashville, becomes the 1,164th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 65-year history. Below is a look at Queen Bey’s latest coronation.

More promotional photos for Act II have been released online. Also, "Texas Hold 'Em" billboards started appearing in cities around the world.

Beyoncé has scored her first UK No 1 in 14 years with her new country single, Texas Hold ’Em.

The song, which features Beyoncé line dancing through life’s problems with a whiskey in hand, has jumped from No 9 in its second week of release, and is the first country song to reach UK No 1 since Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road in 2019. Beyoncé was last at No 1 in 2010 with her Lady Gaga duet Telephone, and her last solo No 1 was If I Were a Boy in 2008.

While remaining an iconic and much-discussed figure in the intervening years, her commercial clout dipped slightly in the UK, with her albums 4, Beyoncé, Lemonade and The Lion King: The Gift only producing two Top 10 hits between them. But the dance music-obsessed UK warmed to her foray into house music on 2022 album Renaissance: the singles Break My Soul and Cuff It both reached the UK Top Five.

Pop and R&B/hip-hop superstar Beyoncé makes her debut on Billboard’s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart (dated Feb. 24) with her first two entries on the survey: “Texas Hold ‘Em” at No. 1 and “16 Carriages” at No. 9.

The songs start at Nos. 2 and 38, respectively, on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

Both tracks were released Feb. 11, as announced in a Verizon commercial that aired during CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, ahead of the March 29 arrival of Beyoncé’s album expected to be titled Act II, which follows her 2022 Renaissance LP.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” drew 19.2 million official streams and 4.8 million in all-format airplay audience and sold 39,000 in the U.S. through Feb. 15, according to Luminate. “16 Carriages” rides in with 10.3 million streams, 90,000 in radio reach and 14,000 sold.

Notably, the Hot Country Songs coronation of “Texas Hold ‘Em” grants Beyoncé No. 1s on seven of Billboard’s multimetric song charts as a solo artist: the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Gospel Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot R&B Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. She’s the only act to have notched No. 1s on that combination of rankings.

New promotional photo for Act II has been released online.

Robert Randolph was tooling around Florida when the call came. The musician, whose sacred steel slide guitar has powered his own Family Band albums and has popped up on records by Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Thomas, Santana, and Dave Matthews Band, was behind the wheel when his office phoned to tell him that Beyoncé wanted him to record with her.

“I said, ‘Record what — you sure you have the right person?’” Randolph recalls, noting his own jam-band style. “I’m the kind who plays and plays and plays on. It was kind of surreal.”

Shortly after her commercial for Verizon aired during Sunday night’s Super Bowl, Beyoncé dropped two songs from Act II, the second installment of her three-part Renaissance project. Details of the album, due March 29, are still emerging, but it’s widely believed to focus on country music. Rhiannon Giddens, the Americana singer and multi-instrumentalist, called it Beyoncé’s “new country record” on Facebook on Monday (on Twitter, she said it was “country-inspired”) and announced her participation, citing “my banjo and viola playing” on one of the new songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “The beginning is a solo riff on my minstrel banjo,” she wrote. Other participants include pedal steel player Justin Schipper, who plays with Randolph on “16 Carriages.”

When Randolph arrived in L.A. a few months ago, he found himself in a room with Giddens, producer and instrumentalist Raphael Saadiq (playing drums and bass), and keyboardist Khirye Tyler. Beyoncé was there too.

Pop and R&B/hip-hop superstar Beyoncé made a surprise announcement during Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, releasing two tracks noticeably different in sound from the bulk of her catalog: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.”

The former is officially being promoted to country radio, as announced in a Columbia Nashville email to stations Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. ET, and arrives as Beyoncé’s first entry on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Feb. 24), starting at No. 54 with 1.1 million in audience via 100 stations at the format in the tracking week ending Feb. 15.

The Country Airplay survey reflects songs’ audience impressions on nearly 150 U.S country radio stations as monitored by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate.

“We immediately added it a sub-power rotation, which is where we put top-trending new music,” Alpha Media-owned KBAY San Jose, Calif., program director Bo Matthews tells Billboard of “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I want people to hear it. One of the biggest artists in the world delivered a great country record for us to have fun with, and the song is really good. We are in the business of creating excitement for our listeners and I’m embracing the moment. Plus, there is plenty of room for great artists, even from other genres. It’s a big country tent.”

Concurrent with its Country Airplay entrance, “Texas Hold ‘Em” opens at No. 38 on Pop Airplay, with its plays on 98 chart reporters translating to 1.3 million audience impressions at the format.

Beyonce released instrumental and acapella versions of "Texas Hold 'Em".

Beyonce released official lyric videos for "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" and "16 CARRIAGES".

After days of speculation and online sleuthing by fans — just another week, in other words — Beyoncé used her appearance in a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday to announce that she would soon be releasing new music.

In a Verizon ad that ran shortly after halftime, Beyoncé joked with the comedian Tony Hale about doing something that would “break the internet” (i.e. Verizon’s 5G network). She ran through a few riffs, like “Beyonc-A.I.,” a Barbie-like “Bar-bey” and a presidential “BOTUS.”

Then she said, “Drop the new music,” before the commercial ended. Soon after, Beyoncé’s website updated with the announcement that a new album, identified as “Act II,” would be released on March 29.

It appeared to be the second part of Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album project, and perhaps one with a country-rock theme, given the sound and look of two new songs, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” that quickly appeared online.

“Texas Hold ’Em” begins with rapid-plucked guitar and moves into a stomping beat, with Beyoncé rhyming “Texas” and “Lexus” and singing lines like, “It’s a real live boogie and a real live hoedown.” On “16 Carriages,” an epic ballad, the guitars swell with organ-loud percussion as Beyoncé sings about looking back at a life after losing innocence “at an early age.”

The visuals for both picture Beyoncé in cowboy hats — a feature of last year’s Renaissance World Tour and Beyoncé’s continued style signature, as seen last week at the Grammy Awards.

New footage of Beyonce filming the music video for "Break My Soul" in July of 2022 has surfaced online.

SZA and Beyoncé lead the nominations in the R&B category for the upcoming iHeartRadio Music Awards.

On Thursday, January 18, iHeart Media revealed the nominees for the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards ahead of the show in April. SZA leads with eight nominations including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video. The Renaissance crooner is up for R&B Artist of the Year, R&B Song of the Year and a new category Favorite On Screen for her movie Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. Other nominees in the R&B category include Coco Jones, Fridayy, Victoria Monét, Usher and more.

iHeartRadio will be giving fans the opportunity to decide winners in several new and established fan-voted categories, including Best Lyrics, Best Music Video, Best Fan Army, Social Star Award, Favorite Tour Photographer, TikTok Bop of the Year, Favorite On Screen, Favorite Tour Style and Favorite Debut Album. Social voting began on January 18th and will close on March 25th at 11:59pm PT for all categories. Fans can vote by visiting iHeartRadio.com/awards.

Fans across the country will be able to watch the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards live as the show will be airing live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday, April 1st from 8pm-10pm ET live/PT tape-delayed on FOX. The event will also be broadcast on iHeartRadio stations nationwide and on the free iHeartRadio app.

See all Beyonce's nominations for the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards below.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The-Dream talks about his friendship with Beyoncé and more.

You worked on the new song “My House” with Beyoncé for the Renaissance film — what was it like creating it?

It was beautiful. Me and that girl, man, we just clicked. It’s not even work anymore. It is, “Hey, well, what you doing? What you doing? Good morning, good morning, let’s do something. Let’s do it.” And then the song’s done.

So that was one of those things that happened pretty late. We were like, “Yo, we need something for this film.” And it’s October at that particular point. “Are you going to pick a record we already have?” And I think we thought about that at first, and then it was more so about, “Hey, let’s just do something from how we are feeling now. Man, let’s just have a good time.”

And then that record came about, and that’s kind of the end of the story. “How do we wrap Renaissance up in a way without also trying to compete with it or make something that’s light-Renaissance, because Renaissance is a special thing?”

Beyonce has been nominated in three categories at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards. The ceremony will air live on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC, Peacock and E! from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.

Voting for the 2024 People’s Choice Awards runs Thursday (Jan. 11) through Jan. 19 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Fans can vote online at VotePCA.com. Votes cast on Turbo Tuesday, Jan. 16, will count twice, equaling a maximum of two votes per day, per category.

Female artist of the year
Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

The nominations for the 24th Annual Black Reel Awards are in. Beyoncé grabbed her seventh nomination for Outstanding Original Song for “My House” from her nominated documentary Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. Beyoncé’s film became the first documentary to be nominated for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Costume Design and Beyoncé became the first person to be nominated in documentary, musical and professional categories in the same year. Check out all the nominations for the film below.

Outstanding Documentary
American Symphony (Netflix) | Matthew Heineman, director
Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) | D. Smith, director
Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia Pictures) | Lisa Cortés, director
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (AMC) | Beyoncé, director
Stamped From the Beginning (Netflix) | Roger Ross Williams, director

Outstanding Original Song
“Am I Dreaming” (From Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) | Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky & Roisee performers; Leland Tyler Wayne, Roisee, Rakim Mayers, Mike Dean, Peter Lee Johnson and Landon “Script” Wayne, writers
“It Never Went Away” (From American Symphony) | Jon Batiste, writer & performer
“Keep It Moving” (From The Color Purple) | Halle Bailey & Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, performers; Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney & Morten Ristorp, writers
“My House” (Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé) | Beyoncé, performer; Beyoncé Knowles & Terius “The-Dream” Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant, writers
“Road to Freedom” (Rustin) | Lenny Kravitz, writer & performer

10 years ago this week, Beyoncé released what many fans consider her defining work: Her fifth studio album, simply titled Beyoncé. From a production standpoint, the album was a feat, but what makes it significant isn’t only the music—it’s the way it shifted her career. Beyoncé marks the moment that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter stopped playing by the rules of the industry, and instead put the industry under her own will.

The album's origin story is certified pop culture lore at this point. The clock struck twelve on Friday, December 13th, 2013 and without any promotion, easter eggs, or clues to fans—let alone music-world professionals—Beyoncé dropped her fifth studio album. The tactic was unheard of at the time; albums normally dropped earlier in the week to better account for Billboard charting and overall sales counts, and releasing an album with little to no promotion was considered a sure pathway to a flop.

Beyoncé could only be purchased as a whole (on iTunes or physically via CD in stores) because the star wanted people to experience the entire project at once. "People don't make albums anymore,” she said in her 2013 HBO documentary Life Is But A Dream. "They just try to sell a bunch of little quick singles. And they burn out, and they put out a new one, and they burn out, and they put out a new one."

This was also highly controversial, but the album proved that fan demand can drive the success of a project, even without corporate marketing teams or soulless press runs. Beyoncé sold 828,773 units in its first three days, making it the fastest-selling album ever on iTunes at the time of its release. It went on to win three Grammy awards the following year.

It’s a big day for Beyoncé and the Beyhive. On Wednesday (Dec. 13), Queen Bey commemorated 10 years of her self-titled surprise visual album, and she’s treating fans to some new music — kind of — to celebrate.

When Beyoncé arrived on iTunes with no pre-release announcement or promotion in the wee hours of Dec. 13, 2013, the 14-track record came complete with 17 music videos. While certain songs on the album — namely “Partition” and “Haunted” — got two music videos to honor their long-winding structures, there was a bonus music video that did not accompany an audio track.

For a decade, Beyoncé fans have only been able to stream “Grown Woman” as a music video. On YouTube — where the clip was uploaded to honor the album’s one-year anniversary and the release of its platinum edition — the Jake Nava-helmed video has amassed over 145 million views. Before that, however, Beyoncé first teased a lengthy snippet of “Grown Woman” in a career-reflecting Pepsi ad that debuted just a few months after she rocked the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in 2013.

Now, fans can enjoy the track as they would any other Beyoncé song. The Afrobeats-tinged single finally arrived on streaming platforms on Dec. 13, marking the second gift from Queen Bey following an Instagram video montage acknowledging the album’s anniversary.