Last night (Nov. 2), the 50th Annual CMA Awards aired live on ABC with it’s usual country stars such as Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Martina McBride and more were in attendance. However, one unlikely artist took the stage in Music City last night: Beyonce!
The singer performed her country-leaning song “Daddy Lessons” from her album Lemonade at the awards ceremony last night along with fellow Texans The Dixie Chicks.
Looking gorg in a soft, angelic sheer dress that showed off her figure in the stage lights, Beyonce and The Dixie Chicks performed the song and fused together country elements, adding a brass section for a New Orleans flare, and even added hip-hop elements that had the arena jumping!
Watch below:
However, not everyone was impressed by Beyonce’s performance. Many country music fans feel as if the genre is being infiltrated by too many “pop” influences and didn’t appreciate Beyonce’s presence at the ceremony.
People seeing nothing wrong with Beyonce being on the CMAs are the reason “country music” is crap now
— Andrea Aguilera (@Teya_Botella) November 2, 2016
Beyoncé is not a country artist therefore she doesn’t belong at the CMAs..it has nothing to do with her skin color
— Med School Fratter (@DrFratter) November 3, 2016
Since Beyoncé performed at CMA’s, does that mean Toby Keith can perform at Soul Train awards? #CMAawards50 #Beyonce #Beyhive #tobykeith
— George C. (@Gmann658) November 3, 2016
Yet these tweeters fail to realize country music has a history steeped in a heavy black influence.
The Washington Post mentions,
“Let us not forget that one of Nashville’s more famous historical spaces was Printer’s Alley, home to Jimmy Hyde’s Carousel Club, where country artists and bookers would come to see, and often play, jazz.
Southern musicians would kick it after hours playing jazz classics in long jam sessions. Among them: the likes of Chet Atkins and Boots Randolph, according to Tony Artimisi’s book, “Rhythm Makers: The Drumming Legends of Nashville in Their Own Words.”
Let us not forget, either, that Willie Nelson once said that Ray Charles “did more for country music than any other living human being” in reference to Charles’s 1962 hit album “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.” It was the first country record to sell more than 1 million copies.
Nor should we forget DeFord Bailey, a black man born in 1899 who was a master of the harmonica.”
Of course, we think there was nothing wrong with Beyonce’s presence at the CMAs, and her performance with the Dixie Chicks was great!
What do you think about Bey’s performance and presence at the CMAs, Roomies?
