HARDY has only been “on the Nashville hit record scene” for around four years, although he goes way back in Music City as a songwriter and studio musician. Maybe that’s why HARDY is calling out Beyonce.
Wide Open Country reported what HARDY said about Queen Bey, including the shady comment that he “didn’t see Beyonce at the rodeo.” This comes after Beyonce allegedly shaded the Country Musician Association Awards, although if she did put down the CMAs, Beyonce was pretty classy about it.
As she did social media press for Cowboy Carter, her “allegedly country” themed album, Beyonce claimed that she “developed” the idea for this project after she “faced persecution” in the country community. Many sources, including another report in Wide Open Country, claim that Beyonce “hinted” that this alleged persecution took place at the 2016 CMAs. If you recall what happened that night, Beyonce might have a point.
In an infamous segment during the awards show, Beyonce took to the stage and performed “Daddy Lessons” with the Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks, who were still recovering from their George Bush-inspired feud with the late, great Toby Keith). Allegedly, there were calls to boycott the 2016 CMAs because of the Beyonce-Chicks performance, and the backlash was visible during the televised show when one old-school country legend got up and walked out.
That old-school country dude was Alan Jackson, and his walk-out caused an even bigger controversy. Alan tried to set the record straight, and outlets like Hello reported Alan’s unapologetic comments. Alan said, “I understand the dang television station trying to get the ratings with whatever they think is gonna prop it up,” and he seemed to diss the Beyonce-Chicks performance as a “big event with some other type of artist on there.”
Beyonce Dove into the History of Country Music
Eight years later, as she prepares to release Cowboy Carter, Beyonce wrote a lengthy post on Instagram. Graciously, she said, “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you.”
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Then, Beyonce took a subtle jab at those old country opinions. She wrote, “My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
Beyonce clarified it by explaining how her new album had developed over the last five years. That was a few years later than the CMAs, but then Queen Bey dropped the mike. She wrote about “an experience” she had “years ago,” where she did not “feel welcomed… and it was very clear that I wasn’t.”
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Instead of resentment, Beyonce claimed she had done a “deeper dive into the history of Country music.” She believes music can “unite so many people around the world,” and the current overwhelming success of lead tracks off Cowboy Carter is living proof that Beyonce is right.
HARDY Shaded Beyonce for Being “Inauthentic”
Still, HARDY’s opinion seems to mirror Alan Jackson’s, and according to Wide Open Country, he’s shading Beyonce for allegedly being inauthentic. During a recent performance at the Houston Rodeo, HARDY posted an Instagram comment that received mixed attention and responses.
That’s when he wrote, “Didn’t see Beyonce at the rodeo.” Whether HARDY expected this or not, some commenters defended her, while others appeared to take his side. One commenter posted more of a joke when they wrote, “Paint [HARDY] red and black & call him jumper cables cause he’s startin’ s—t.”
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Someone else came down pretty hard on HARDY when they wrote, in part, “I will never understand any person, especially artists and creative minds, having to tear down other people being creative.” This commenter thought HARDY’s shady putdown was “such an odd concept to me.”
He suggested HARDY stick to making his own music and letting it speak for itself. The commenter finished by saying, “Rise above and do your thing.”
But the haters are out there, especially one who commented that Beyonce thinks she can “take over country just because she’s from Texas.” Then, in all caps, they wrote, “WRONG.”
Beyonce has been through it while promoting her new album, and she’s not taking it lying down. Wide Open Country wrote that Beyonce has “the final word on anyone who doesn’t like her music.”
Because Queen Bey wrote that her new project is more than a country album, she said, “This is a Beyonce album. This is Act II COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”
