It’s been over a week and Beyoncé fans are still outraged after learning that the singer’s “Cowboy Carter” album had not received any nominations for the upcoming Country Music Awards.
But now the Beyhive’s fury has been refueled after country veteran Dolly Parton had a few thoughts of her own on the snubbing. The 10-time Grammy award-winner seemed to hold doubt that Beyoncè’s lack of nominations was done on “purpose.”
In a Sept. 17 Variety interview, Parton said, “Well, you never know. There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that. But I didn’t even realize that until somebody asked me that question.”
Parton, who is known as a country music legend, was credited twice on the “Cowboy Carter” project. On the first, Parton lent her own voice to the ninth track called “Dolly P” which serves as an intro to the second song — Beyonce’s rendition of Parton’s 1973 hit song “Jolene.”
The second song that involved Parton called “Tyrant” is a track where country meets R&B. In fact, Parton’s feature earned her a first-time spot on seven Billboard charts — six of which are in an R&B genre.
“But it was a wonderful album,” the 78-year-old continued. “She can be very, very proud of, and I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good.”
Parton ended her thoughts on the matter of Queen Bey not receiving any nominations. She said, “So I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.”
Annoyed fans reacted to Parton’s response, which was reposted on The Jasmine Brand’s Instagram.
“What do u expect the yt woman to say,” said one commenter. Another shared, “I love Dolly, but cut the crap. Country music new slogan should be for Whites Only.”
“Love my aunt Dolly but they absolutely did that to send her a clear message,” a third fan wrote.
A fourth fan chimed in, “Bye Dolly, respectfully. We already know why and YOU DO TOO ‼️”
However, others seemingly agreed with Parton and debated whether Beyoncé’s album should earn the “diva” a nomination at the CMAs. “I love Cowboy Carter but She’s not totally wrong. A specialty album v shutting out someone whose only genre is country,” wrote one fan.
A fourth person said, “Beyonce said herself that it wasn’t a country album. If it’s not country why do the CMAs need to add it to it’s categories? We need to stop seeking acceptance from people who will never give it to us.”
This references the post Beyoncè’s made back in March just 10 days before releasing “Cowboy Carter.” In the caption of the post, the “Obsessed” actress affirmed that “This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album.”
Previous to that, she talked about the origins of the album, which she said took five years to make. “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed,” said the Houston native, bringing attention to her performance with the Dixie Chicks — now known as The Chicks — at the 2016 CMAs.
That same year Beyoncé was invited to perform her song, “Daddy’s Lessons,” which was her first country track from her sixth studio album “Lemonade.”
Of course, Queen Bey got a lot of praise for the performance, but she was reportedly met with boos from the audience and racial attacks online as well. Nonetheless, the “Run the World” singer refused to let the nasty remarks and hatred keep her down.
Instead, she made an album that touched all genres of music.
Continuing in her post Beyoncè said, “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.”
The CMAs will be televised on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
