Giddy up, Beyhive — Beyoncé has finally revealed the name of her follow-up to the GRAMMY-winning album Renaissance! On Tuesday, the 42-year-old singer announced that her forthcoming Act II album is titled Cowboy Carter.
The GRAMMY winner took to her Instagram Story for the title unveiling. She shared a simple photo of a brown-and-silver horse saddle carrying a white-and-red sash with the album’s name written across it.
The slide includes a link to Beyoncé’s official website, where fans can pre-order physical copies of the album and Cowboy Carter merchandise.
Cowboy Carter has already made history thanks to the release of its first two singles. Last month, Billboard announced that the Renaissance singer became the first Black female artist to top the Hot Country Songs chart with her single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” The singer’s other new offering, “16 Carriages,” also cracked the Top 10 at No. 9.
The No. 1 also gave Beyoncé her seventh unique top spot on one 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. Only Justin Bieber has more, at eight.
The single drops are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Cowboy Carter‘s potential surprises.
On Monday, Dolly Parton shared that a cover of her iconic 1973 single, “Jolene,” could appear on the upcoming album. In a recent interview with Knox News, Parton, 78, explained that Beyoncé previously recorded a cover that Parton said is “probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that.”
“I love her!” the country music icon added of Beyoncé. “She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer. We’ve kind of sent messages back and forth through the years. And she and her mother were like fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great.”
After previously offering her congratulations and well wishes to Beyoncé when the latter made history with her recent single, Parton reiterated her praise while speaking with Knox News, welcoming the Houston-born musician at a time when she’s received pushback for tapping into her country roots when she’s traditionally viewed as an R&B/Pop artist.
“A lot of people don’t realize Beyoncé is a country girl. She’s from Texas,” Parton said. “I think we belong wherever we can do good, and her song is number one across every chart in the whole world, I think. So, I mean, who can argue with that?”
Indeed, the new songs are far from Beyoncé’s first foray into the county music scene.
On her 2016 magnum opus, Lemonade, the singer reached into her country roots for “Daddy Lessons,” which she later performed alongside The Chicks at the 50th annual Country Music Association Awards.
While Beyoncé’s first Renaissance album served as a tribute to house and disco music, it’s clear that Cowboy Carter — the second part of a planned trilogy of albums that started with 2022’s Renaissance — will offer a tip of the cowboy hat to country music.
Fans can dive into the full experience of Act II: Cowboy Carter when it drops on March 29.
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