The “Cowboy Carter” reign continues. Beyoncé officially has a hit album on her hands, becoming the first Black woman with a No. 1 country LP on the Billboard 200 chart, per Billboard. “Cowboy Carter” also rests atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Album Sales charts.
Queen Bey’s venture into country brought in major numbers for her, earning 407,000 equivalent album units in the first week in the U.S. In addition to topping the all-genre Billboard 200 list, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer is also the first Black woman with a No. 1 album on the Top Country Albums list since it first launched in 1964. The LP is also experiencing the biggest week for country album sales since last July, when Taylor Swift dropped the re-release of 2010’s “Speak Now.”
With “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé saw her biggest streaming week ever, Billboard reports, the LP’s 300.41 million on-demand official streams delivering the fourth-largest streaming week for a country album. The “16 Carriages” singer now has enjoyed eight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, her latest joining “Renaissance” (2022), “Lemonade” (2016), Beyoncé (2013), “4” (2011), “I Am … Sasha Fierce” (2008), “B’Day” (2006) and “Dangerously In Love” (2003).
As theGrio previously reported, her country-themed project is the “second act” of a rumored trilogy of collections, with the dance-inspired “Renaissance” record serving as “Act I.” In an Instagram days before her new album’s release, she noted, “I focused on this album as a continuation of RENAISSANCE … I hope this music is an experience, creating another journey where you can close your eyes, start from the beginning and never stop.”
“This ain’t a Country album,” she declared. “This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
“Cowboy Carter” is available now.