Beyoncé has got the country world standing in formation with her latest album, “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” making history as the first Black woman to claim the top spot on the Billboard Country Albums chart.
This achievement adds to her being one of the most successful recording artists in history, as the album also soared to No. 1 on the all-genres Billboard 200, marking her eighth consecutive chart-topping album.
Those aren’t the album’s only acclaims. On its release day, March 29, Spotify reported that “Act II: Cowboy Carter” broke records as the platform’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 thus far. Furthermore, the album set a new benchmark on Amazon Music, boasting the highest number of first-day streams for a country album by a female artist.
Still, the haters are going to hate. Far-right news commentator Megyn Kelly appeared on screen with Sky News host Paul Murray, where she discounted the Houston native’s achievements and blasted her for making music that is contrary to modern feminism.
Out of the gate, she barked, “She’s not a queen — people like her music, she sings some good music, that’s it. She didn’t cure cancer.”
“Country music’s been around for a long, long time. It goes right to the heart of America, and most Americans in red states have been loving and enjoying it long before ‘Queen Bey’ decided to stick her big toe into the lane,” said Kelly, the host of a self-titled news show, before adding, “She makes an album, which, of course, because she’s queen has got the thumbs-up and promotion from Michelle Obama, from Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Then she shifted her attention to one song in particular, her interpretation of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” a two-time Grammy-nominated song ranked in Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
“She [Beyoncé] turned Jolene into her version of a bada– because that’s what modern-day feminism looks like,” Kelly scoffed.
Lyrics in the “Cowboy Carter” version of the song differ from the original song in tone and vibrato. The original song, written by Parton, begs a woman not to take her man because she can do so.
Bey’s version warns the woman that she is working in vain to come for her man because they have a foundation and Jolene really doesn’t want any “smoke.”
Parton posted on her Instagram her approval of the changes, writing, “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!”
Kelly believes the pop star completely misses what real power would be like in the song.
“The true power move is to write a song about Jolene not even worrying about this. Jolene has no worries because her man loves her and is committed to her and would never cheat on Jolene so the most beautiful woman in the world could come walking by she’s good,” she continues, seeming to not truly understand who Jolene is in either song.
“Queen Bey doesn’t understand that,” said Kelly. “She’s gotta pretend she’s tough which only telegraphs to those of us who are paying attention that she isn’t a whole thing is bass-ackwards and I object.”
Fans on Facebook were quick to defend the Houston native, laughing because Parton loves Beyoncé’s version.
“Everyone has a problem with her version of ‘Jolene’ except the original artist. If you guys don’t like it you sure are giving it a lot of air time. Which actually works out for Beyonce,” one person wrote.
Another person said, “Beyonce raised the bar in Country Western. Enjoy the Black girl magic. Life is short.” On X one person wrote, “U sound envious & jealous that your career is going down the toilet while beyounce’s is STILL on the rise, evident from her chart topping country album. Focus on more important things that ppl actually care about. Fucking with queen bey ain’t one of them.”
U sound envious & jealous that your career is going down the toilet while beyounce’s is STILL on the rise, evident from her chart topping country album. Focus on more important things that ppl actually care about. Fucking with queen bey ain’t one of them. https://t.co/06zQNtXH6m
— HistoryMatters (@Izzy617) April 11, 2024
“Beyoncé actually made country music tolerable for me. Her album is so creative, she takes her craft very seriously and made each track her own. Surprised Megyn would put down another strong woman like herself, especially one so talented,” a third comment read, while a fourth said, “Oh, Megyn’s mad at another black person. Yawn.”
Someone weighing in cheekily reminded the attack dogs from the Beyhive to consider the song and the Carter marriage when writing their remarks. Not siding with Kelly, the person asked, “Doesn’t Jay Z cheat on her anyway? So he’s already had Jolene.”
A few even compared her to other controversial personalities, writing, “Megan Kelly is about on the same level of Candace Owen’s as far as her OPINIONS, she tries to tout!”
Kelly did have some support.
“Beyonce’s attempt to break into country music is about as lame as Rihanna dressing up as a s–t nun. The music is terrible and not even close to the sound and feel of real country music. Megan Kelly is right,” one X user wrote.
There is a market for Kelly’s commentary, especially on this subject. She was invited on Murray’s show after talking about the singer on “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“I’m not a big Beyoncé follower. I don’t have anything against her… I don’t listen to her music,” she confessed but said that she hates that people act like she is the return of the Christ.
“But I do get kind of annoyed at how whenever she does anything, we have to pretend she’s the Second Coming. It’s like, oh my god — they literally call her ‘Queen Bey.’ It’s like she can do absolutely no wrong,” she says.
She also took issue with Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama for saluting the artist for the successful release of the project.
“Jolene” was Dolly Parton’s second No. 1 single in 1973 on the U.S. Country Song chart. Beyoncé’s rendition of “Jolene” debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is the first version of the song to ever break into Billboard’s Top 10, according to the American Songwriter.
The original only peaked at No. 60 on the Hot 100 chart.
The success in a way is similar to what Whitney Houston, who was in the ’80s and ’90s, as big as Beyoncé is now, did with her remake of “I Will Always Love You.”
Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” has sold more than 24 million copies globally, establishing it as the top-selling single by a female artist and one of the best-selling singles overall. Additionally, it claimed the title of the world’s best-selling single in 1992.