Dolly Parton and The Beatles honored – NRK Norway – An overview of news from around the country

When Beyoncé dropped “Texas Hold'em” and “16 Carriages” without warning last February, she made history.

The former made her the first black female artist to top the country charts in the United States. At the time of writing, “Texas Hold'em” has been played approximately 212 million times on Spotify since February 11th.

The previous week, the pop artist appeared at the Grammy Awards wearing a white cowboy hat. It was a clear hint at her eighth studio album, which was released on Friday night.

Country music as a genre, despite the overwhelming predominance of white artists, also has roots in black culture. But Beyoncé was clear on Instagram beforehand:

“This isn't a country album, it's a Beyoncé album.”

– I stand behind it, Adele Helen Kruger-Arukwe tells NRK.

She's a journalist, DJ at Musikkrommet and former music director at P3, and so far she's had a good first impression of the album.

– It is difficult to speak objectively, but personally I think it suits her well. I think it's great that she put so much of her own touch into the songs.

The 27 new songs are the second part of Beyoncé's three-part “Renaissance.”“-Project. The first album came out in 2022.

Songwriter and artist Liz Milland previously told NRK that the album had been ready since the pandemic, but the artist had been waiting for the right time to release it.

Shows greetings

“Cowboy Carter” contains 27 songs – including a cover of Dolly Parton's famous song “Jolene” from 1977.

There have long been rumors that “Jolene” would appear in some form on the album. Now it turns out that Dolly Parton herself made a guest appearance on one of the songs.

– Hello, Miss Honeybee, I'm Dolly Bee, she says.

Artists such as Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus and Post Malone also contributed to the album.

For Beatles fans, another song will also sound familiar. The album's second track is a cover of Paul McCartney's “Blackbird” from 1968, in which country artist Tanner Adele, among others, makes a guest appearance.

To date, the artist's new life's works have been met with critical acclaim. BBC The reviewer describes Cowboy Carter's songs as theatrical, sad, funny, and whimsical, and writes that the album “throws a lasso around the country.” My voice Labels”.

Following the release of the two singles in February, interest in country-inspired fashion has increased dramatically, according to USA Today.

It was not played at first

“Texas Hold'em” topped Billboard's Country chart for six consecutive weeks. But despite the overwhelming success, it took a while for American stations to get on the bandwagon.

Country music is very popular in the United States, with over 2,100 songs Radio stations Designed for this type.

However, on the first day after its release, only eight of the 150 radio stations reporting their playlists played the song. paintingSong country airplay chart. Only one was played more than twice, while “16 Wagons” was never heard at all.

An Oklahoma radio station has come under fire for refusing to play Beyoncé's new music because it is a “country music station.” Later they explained to today They don't know about the song.

Beyoncé also received a lot of criticism when she released her first country song in 2016. After performing “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks at the Country Music Association Awards, the reviews were filled with negative comments.

The song was also rejected by the Grammy Awards country committee, and It didn't appear much either on country stations in the United States that year.

However, Liz Milland has no doubt that Beyoncé will now be able to make an impact in the country's market.

– She crossed invisible boundaries that no one had been able to cross before, she told NRK in February.