Beyoncé, months after lamenting that she wasn’t “country enough” on “Cowboy Carter,” is getting the cold shoulder from the country music scene — again.
The Country Music Association excluded the pop superstar and her new album from the class of nominees for the 2024 CMA Awards. Though billed as a “Beyoncé album” rather than a purely country music project, “Cowboy Carter” paid homage to the singer’s Southern roots and featured the genre’s most iconic voices, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Linda Martell. It also featured emerging artists.
When the list of nominees for the 2024 CMA Awards was released on Monday, Morgan Wallen led the pack with seven nominations, including for artist of the year and song of the year. Behind Wallen, musicians Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton followed with five nominations each.
Rapper and singer Post Malone, who worked with Beyoncé on the “Cowboy Carter” song “Levii's Jeans,” earned four nominations, all for his single “I Had Some Help,” which features Wallen. Lainey Wilson, who was the most nominated artist at both the 2023 and 2022 ceremonies, was nominated in four categories, including artist of the year.
The CMA nomination comes eight years after Beyoncé faced criticism from conservative country music fans for her performance of “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks at the 2016 awards show. Following the release of her album, Beyoncé said it was “born out of an experience I had years ago where I didn’t feel welcome… and it was very clear that I wasn’t.”
“Through that experience, I dove deeper into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive,” the 43-year-old singer said in March.
He added at the time: “The criticism I faced when I entered this genre forced me to overcome the limitations that were imposed on me.”
The 58th CMA Awards will air on November 20 on ABC.
Here is the full list of nominees:
Artist of the year
- Lucas Combs
- Jelly roll
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
- Lainey Wilson
Single of the year
- “A bar song (Tipsy)” — Shaboozey
Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry
Mixing Engineer: Raul Lopez - “Very cheap” — Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mixing Engineer: Jack Clarke - “I had help” — Post Malone (with Morgan Wallen)
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Mixing Engineer: Ryan Gore - “Watermelon Schnapps” — Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mixing Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce - “White Horse” — Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton
Mixing Engineer: Vance Powell
Album of the year
- “A Deeper Hole” — Kacey Musgraves
Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian
Mixing Engineers: Shawn Everett, Konrad Snyder - “Fathers and Sons” — Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mixing Engineer: Chip Matthews - “Higher” — Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton
Mixing Engineer: Vance Powell - “Leather” — Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mixing Engineer: Jack Clarke - “Whitsitt Chapel”: jelly roll
Producers: Andrew Baylis, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Jesse Frasure, David Garcia, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft, Austin Nivarel, David Ray Stevens
Mixing Engineers: Jeff Braun, Jim Cooley
Song of the year
- “Burn it”
Composers: Hillary Lindsey, Parker McCollum, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose - “Very cheap”
Composer: Josh Phillips - “I had some help”
Composers: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters - “The painter”
Composers: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins - “White horse”
Composers: Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson
Female Vocalist of the Year
- Kelsea Dancer
- Ashley McBryde
- Megan Moroney
- Kacey Musgraves
- Lainey Wilson
Male Vocalist of the Year
- Lucas Combs
- Jelly roll
- Cody Johnson
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
Vocal group of the year
- Mrs. A
- Little Big City
- Old domain
- The Red Clay Wanderers
- Zac Brown Band
Vocal Duo of the Year
- Brooks and Dunn
- Osborne Brothers
- Dan and Shay
- Maddie and Tae
- The war and the treaty
Musical event of the year
- “Cowboys Cry Too” — Kelsea Ballerini (with Noah Kahan)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym - “I had help” – Post Malone (with Morgan Wallen)
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins - “I Remember It All” — Zach Bryan (with Kacey Musgraves)
Producer: Zach Bryan - “The man made a bar” — Morgan Wallen (with Eric Church)
Producer: Joey Moi - “It Seems Like You Love Me” — Ella Langley (feat. Riley Green)
Producer: Will Bundy
Musician of the year
- Tom Bukovac — Guitar
- Jenee Fleenor — Violin
- Paul Franklin — Steel Guitar
- Rob McNelley — Guitar
- Charlie Worsham — Guitar
Music video of the year
- “Very cheap” — Cody Johnson
Director: Dustin Haney - “I had help” — Post Malone (with Morgan Wallen)
Director: Chris Villa - “I’m not pretty” — Megan Moroney
Directors: Jeff Johnson, Megan Moroney - “The Painter” — Cody Johnson
Director: Dustin Haney - “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” — Lainey Wilson
Director: Patrick Tracy
New Artist of the Year
- Megan Moroney
- Shaboozey
- Nate Smith
- Mitchell Tenpenny
- Zach superior
- Bailey Zimmerman
