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In 2025, a visibly astonished Beyoncé took the stage at the Grammys to accept the award for Best Country Album. This Beyoncé’s first time winning in that category. It was also the first time in history that a Black woman took home the trophy. Just a few months later, the Recording Academy added another category for country music.

Beyoncé won Best Country Album at the Grammys with ‘Cowboy Carter’

Beyoncé was so visibly shocked at her Best Country Album win that her reaction was quickly memeified. After standing up with a bit of nudging from her daughter, Blue Ivy, the “16 Carriages” singer took the stage. 

She told the cheering audience that she hadn’t expected the win before thanking everyone involved in making the album. 

“I’d like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album,” she said in her speech. “We worked so hard on it. I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists, and I just wanna encourage people to do what they’re passionate about and to stay persistent.”

The Grammys rewrote their rules after Beyoncé’s win

Beyoncé’s historic win sparked some backlash in the country music world. The Grammys seemed to respond to this several months later. Beginning in 2026, the awards show will split the Best Country Album category into Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album. Harvey Mason Jr, the CEO of the Recording Academy, said Beyoncé’s win did not cause the change.

“The community of people making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said they wanted more variety in how their music is honored,” Mason said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “It makes country parallel with what’s happening in other genres. But it’s also creating space for where this genre is going.”

Still, the Recording Academy made a similar move after she won Best Dance/Electronic Record for Renaissance. Shortly thereafter, they created the Best Pop Dance Record. 

She wrote ‘Cowboy Carter’ after feeling shut out of country music

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter also went on to win Album of the Year at the Grammys. She said she felt inspired to make the album after feeling unwelcome in the country genre.

“It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” she wrote on Instagram. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”

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She faced significant backlash after performing her song “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks at the CMA Awards. Many viewers said she shouldn’t have been invited to perform at the awards show, even though the song was firmly country.

“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote. “[Act II] is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”

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