Civil Rights Group Color Of Change Calls Out CMA Awards for Beyoncé Snub (Exclusive)

Racial justice non-profit Color Of Change is calling out the Country Music Association for snubbing Beyoncé at its 2024 awards show.

Despite having an uber-successful No. 1 album and single on both the country and pop charts — with Cowboy Carter and “Texas Hold ‘Em” — the Grammy-winning star was completely shut out of the awards show honoring the best in country music.

“Beyoncé is bigger than the CMAs. She doesn’t need the CMAs. But when the CMAs make such a clear statement saying they don’t need Beyoncé, they send a clear message that aligns them with the forces desperately trying to hold onto a mythical American past that never was,” Rashad Robinson, president of Color Of Change, tells The Hollywood Reporter.

“Recognizing Beyoncé at the CMAs would force everyone to confront a multitude of truths: the roots of country music in Black music, the history of racism in country music and the prospect of having to give up not only their white audiences but the part of their audience that can’t stand to see Black excellence succeed in this country. It would also force them to confront the one enclave of culture they use as an escape from ever having to see Black people: their music,” he continues

Color Of Change was founded in 2005 and has seven million members. The nonprofit is committed to protecting Black culture and progress, holding corporate and political leaders accountable and commissioning research on systems of inequality.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter made history this year when it spent four weeks on top of Billboard’s Top country albums chart — making her the first Black woman to achieve the feat. She also became the first Black woman to hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot country songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which held the top position for a whopping 10 weeks. Both her single and album also led Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 and 200 albums charts, while seven other Cowboy Carter tracks hit the Top 10 of the Billboard country chart. The 27-track project, featuring Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell and Miley Cyrus, drove cultural conversations about Black artists reclaiming the genres they started, including country music. 

Despite being completely shut out, Beyoncé qualified for CMA categories like single of the year, song of the year, album of the year, female vocalist of the year and music event of the year. She even qualified for entertainer of the year, though that award is typically reserved for country acts who have built a strong presence in the genre for years.

Post Malone — who also released his debut country album this year and appears on Cowboy Carter — was welcomed with four nominations, including bids for single and song of the year for “I Had Some Help.” That No. 1 pop and country hit features Morgan Wallen, who tops the CMA Awards with seven nominations. Beyoncé collaborator Shaboozey — who got a major boost on the music scene after appearing on two Cowboy Carter tracks — did earn his first-ever CMA nominations: new artist of the year and single of the year with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” the biggest hit of the year.

He posted in support of Beyoncé following the CMA announcement: “Thank you @Beyoncé for opening a door for us, starting a conversation, and giving us one of the most innovative country albums of all time!”

The CMA snub comes eight years after controversy ensued at the 2016 CMAs when Beyoncé surprised the audience with a performance of her country-tinged song “Daddy Lessons” alongside The Chicks. While some applauded the performance, there was backlash from members of the country music community, some even calling for a boycott, while Queen Bey’s performance was scrubbed from the CMA website. The singer seemed to reference the CMAs when she teased Cowboy Carter in March: “This album has been over five years in the making. 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. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive.”