‘Cowboy Carter’: All the latest on Beyoncé’s new album featuring Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and more

Beyoncé's eighth studio album, the country music-inspired Cowboy Carter, is now out. Released at midnight last night, the record was “over five years in the making”, according to the 32-time Grammy winner - and is the second part in a trilogy of albums that began with 2022′s Renaissance.

Who features on Cowboy Carter?

An 80-minute album with as many as 27 tracks, Cowboy Carter includes collaborations with country legends. Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton both contribute; indeed, Beyoncé also covers Parton’s 1973 hit “Jolene”.

The trailblazing country singer Linda Martell, seemingly a major inspiration for the album, also features. Described by Rolling Stone as “country’s lost pioneer”, Martell was the first Black female solo artist to appear on the Grand Ole Opry country-music show; however, the now-82-year-old’s career in the genre “was plagued by racism and ended almost as quickly as it began”, Rolling Stone’s David Browne writes.

Cowboy Carter a response to Dixie Chicks backlash?

Beyoncé, who is also Black, explained in a social-media post this month that Cowboy Carter is motivated by the rejection she herself has encountered at the hands of the country music community when venturing into the genre.

“It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” the 42-year-old, who is best known as an R&B and pop performer, said. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”

Beyoncé's comments appear to make reference to her 2016 appearance at the Country Music Association Awards, where she sang alongside the 10-time CMA-winning band the Dixie Chicks.

Country fans widely criticised her performance, with social-media users describing it as “so not country” and branding her incursion into the genre as “a step too far”. Reacting to the backlash aimed at ‘Queen Bey’, the journalist Alex Abad-Santos said: “Some of [the critics’] sentiment was due to Beyoncé’s liberal-leaning politics, some of it was rooted in her perceived lack of country cred, and some of it was downright racist.”

Where can I listen to Cowboy Carter?

A record whose star-studded list of collaborations also includes appearances by singer Miley Cyrus and rapper Post Malone, Cowboy Carter can be purchased on Beyoncé’s official website. It is also available on major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal.

Cowboy Carter: full track list

1. “American Requiem”

2. “Blackbiird” (Lennon-McCartney cover; featuring Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy)

3. “16 Carriages”

4. “Protector” (featuring Rumi Carter)

5. “My Rose”

6. “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson” (featuring Willie Nelson)

7. “Texas Hold ‘Em”

8. “Bodyguard”

9. “Dolly P” (featuring Dolly Parton)

10. “Jolene” (Dolly Parton cover)

11. “Daughter”

12. “Spaghettii” (featuring Linda Martell and Shaboozey)

13. “Alliigator Tears”

14. “Smoke Hour II” (featuring Willie Nelson)

15. “Just for Fun” (featuring Willie Jones)

16. “II Most Wanted” (featuring Miley Cyrus)

17. “Levii’s Jeans” (featuring Post Malone)

18. “Flamenco”

19. “The Linda Martell Show” (featuring Linda Martell)

20. “Ya Ya”

21. “Oh Louisiana” (Chuck Berry cover)

22. “Desert Eagle”

23. “Riiverdance”

24. “II Hands II Heaven”

25. “Tyrant”

26. “Sweet Honey Buckiin’” (featuring Shaboozey)

27. “Amen”

The album‘s lead singles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”, were released in February.

Is Cowboy Carter too long?

Cowboy Carter has received positive reviews from music critics, Page Six’s Nicholas Hautman describing the album as “instantly timeless” and “the revival that country music so desperately needed”.

However, its length has attracted criticism. “You wonder if Cowboy Carter might have worked better split into two separate albums,” Alexis Petridis wrote in The Guardian, adding: “There are moments when it starts to feel less like a coherent statement than one of those long 21st-century albums that offers listeners a selection box of tracks to pick and choose playlist additions from.”