She doesn t need a trophy : Billy Ray Cyrus reacts after Beyonce was snubbed again by the Country Music Awards
Get the Full StoryJust days out from the 2024 edition of the CMA Awards, Billy Ray Cyrus has weighed in on the debate surrounding Beyonc s absence from the list of nominees. Cyrus is one of many to react to the singer s CMA snub, which typically awards nominees who fit within the country music genre. While much of her discography is considered pop music, Beyonc s most recent album, Cowboy Carter, was a clear turn into country music, and was undoubtedly the most successful country album of the year. The album s lead single, Texas Hold Em , reached number one on the Billboard charts, but the album s mainstream appeal didn t correlate to any CMA nominations. Despite having a #1 song and album on the country charts this year, Beyonc did not receive any nominations at the CMAs pic.twitter.com cZ5ODmzB7r COWBOY CARTER Updates B7Album September 9, 2024 Taking to Instagram to respond to the snub, Cyrus said he was surprised to see that Beyonc wasn t nominated. The country music singer praised Cowboy Carter as brilliant, and said Texas Hold Em ruled. While he was shocked by Beyonc s absence, Cyrus said he doubts that the singer is too fussed by her exclusion, since she doesn t need a trophy to validate her album s success. Cyrus said Beyonc doesn t need permission or approval from any of the ceremony s judges and even quoted Mohammed Ali when explaining the non-necessity that is accolades and awards for an artist like Beyonc . When ya knock em out, Ya don t need no judge, he wrote. Billy Ray Cyrus says Beyonc was snubbed at the #CMAawards: I was surprised to see Beyonc wasn t nominated??? Her album was brilliant her single ruled. But she knows that. She doesn t need a trophy from the CMA or permission . or approval from any of their judges. pic.twitter.com 51SUqxEfIV Pop Base PopBase November 20, 2024 Cyrus was also surprised by the Beyonc snub because the CMAs have gradually been opening their doors and format to be inclusive to all people, all styles. As evidence of this, he cited his own win in the ceremony s Event Of The Year category in 2019, an award he shared with Lil Nas X for their remixed version of Old Town Road. If you recall, however, the pair s win did not air during that year s broadcast of the ceremony, which is why Cyrus said you wouldn t have seen them collecting the award. Cyrus whose daughter and fellow musician Miley Cyrus appeared as a featured artist on Cowboy Carter isn t the only celebrity who has reacted to Beyonc s snub. Kelly Clarkson said the exclusion was fascinating because songs from Cowboy Carter were everywhere, but admitted that Beyonc didn t even need the award since she s killing it, regardless. For his part, Shaboozey who appeared on Cowboy Carter and is up for two awards at the ceremony said the situation is definitely unfortunate, while Beyonc s dad, Mathew Knowles, said that race might have been a factor. It s still sometimes a white and black thing, Knowles said of the voting system behind the CMA nominations, adding that Beyonc s snub shows that it still comes down to white and black. Beyonc s absence from the list stung particularly for fans, since she had said that Cowboy Carter was inspired by an experience where she did not feel welcomed at a country music event, which many took as a reference to the CMAs. While she never confirmed it to be the origin of the album, Beyonc faced backlash from conservative country music fans after her 2016 performance at the CMAs, with many saying she was unworthy to grace the stage given her pop music roots. In any case, Beyonc certainly isn t in an award drought, with her recent sweep of the 2025 Grammy nominations seeing her surpass her husband, Jay Z, as the most nominated artist in Grammys history.Share: