Country Has Won Our Achy Breaky Hearts

The genre has never been so popular-and with the likes of Beyoncé reminding fans of its roots, its mainstream appeal looks set to grow and grow

- BILLIE SCHWAB DUNN

COUNTRY MUSIC IS ENJOYING A HUGE RESURgence and showing signs that it is becoming more inclusive.

With both Beyoncé and Lana Del Rey having announced that they're releasing country albums this year, and country songs regularly going viral on TikTok, the genre is more popular than ever.

Last month, Beyoncé revealed she would be dropping her album on March 29. A teaser clip was uploaded to her Instagram account before she released songs "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages." The Grammy winner went on to become the first Black female artist to achieve a number-one country song when "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted in the top spot.

Earlier, Del Rey had revealed that she too would be releasing a country LP, titled Lasso, in September. At a pre-Grammys event in January, she declared: "If you can't already tell by our award winners and our performers, the music business is going country. We're going country. It's happening."

Then, country music artist Kacey Musgraves revealed at the 2024 Grammy Awards that her eagerly awaited album, Deeper Well, would be available on March 15. The charts are also full of exciting new country and folk artists, including the likes of Noah Kahan, Lainey Wilson and Zach Bryan.

Newsweek contacted Beyoncé, Del Rey, Musgraves, Kahan and Wilson for comment via email on February 27. Bryan declined to comment.

Country music was one of 2023's fastest-growing streaming genres in the U.S., according to industry data firm Luminate, with on-demand audio streams exceeding 20 billion-a 23.7 percent increase over the prior year. It's safe to say that country music is taking over-but the genre isn't new, and it has an often-debated history.