Willie! Dolly! Miley! See Beyoncé’s Collaborators React to ‘Cowboy Carter’
From country icons Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson to featured guests Miley Cyrus and Post Malone, every star who worked on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter shared their excitement for joining Queen Bey on her country album released Friday.
Rising stars such as Raye and Tiera Kennedy expressed their gratitude to Beyoncé, and even Nancy Sinatra, who was sampled on the project, said the usage of her iconic song “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” might “be the best sample” of the song.
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Miley joins Queen Bey on “II Most Wanted,” Post Malone sings on “Levii’s Jeans”, Shaboozey raps on “Spaghettii” and “Sweet Honey Buckin,” and Willie Jones sings on “Just for Fun.”
A trio of country legends — Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Linda Martell — provide interlude narration on the LP, which broke Spotify’s record for most streams in a single day in 2024 by Friday evening.
Here’s every reaction to Act II, Cowboy Carter, from the folks who worked on it:
Willie Nelson
Country legend Willie Nelson is featured prominently across the album as the voice of KNTRY Radio Texas on interludes “Smoke Hour * Willie Nelson” and “Smoke Hour II.” On Instagram, he shared a photo from Beyoncé’s account, quoting one of his lines.
“If there’s one thing you can take away from my set today, let it be this: Sometimes you don’t know what you like until someone you trust turns you on to some real good shit,” he wrote.
The intro leads into the Willie Jones collaboration “Just for Fun.”
Dolly Parton
Cowboy Carter features a feisty reimagining of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and an intro from the country legend herself. After the album dropped, she wrote on Instagram: “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!”
Queen Dolly — who also cameos on track “Tyrant” — has been incredibly supportive of Beyoncé’s new version of the song. After Bey revealed the track list for Cowboy Carter earlier this month, Parton wrote on Instagram, “Play the original while you wait for @beyonce’s ‘Jolene.'”
Post Malone
Post Malone, who’s featured on “Levii’s Jeans,” shared a photo of Beyoncé on his Instagram Story, thanking her for including him on the project.
“Thank you @Beyonce. Congrats,” he wrote. “This album is beautiful!”
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus wrote about her “admiration” for Beyoncé after collaborating with her on “II Most Wanted.”
“I’ve loved Beyonce since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her,” Cyrus wrote on X. “My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created alongside her. Thank you, Beyonce. You’re everything & more. Love you.”
“To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she added.
“II Most Wanted” is a classic partners-in-crime anthem that strikes a potent balance between back porch country and more Fleetwood Mac-style pop rock.
On her Instagram Stories, the singer also shared videos of herself raving about Beyoncé in the past, including a clip of her talking about the singer on Hannah Montana, and calling her an “icon and legend” in an interview.
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra celebrated Beyoncé sampling her iconic 1965 single “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” on the Cowboy Carter standout “Ya Ya.”
“To have a little piece of one of my records in a @Beyonce song is very meaningful to me because I love her,” Sinatra wrote on X. “She represents what is great about today’s music and I’m delighted to be a tiny part of it.”
“This may be the best sample of ‘Boots’ yet! And the beat goes on…” she added.
“Ya Ya” opens with a nod to Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” interpolates a section of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” and channels Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary.” “I just wanna shake my ass!” Beyoncé sings.
Raye
Raye revealed that she co-wrote “Riiverdance” from the LP by sharing a video of her dancing to the record.
“Happy COWBOY CARTER day. What an honour it is to being able to contribute my small piece to this beautiful album, and to THE @beyonce who continues to inspire all of us,” Raye wrote on X.
“RIIVERDANCE co-written by me,” she continued. “[I] found my cowboy hat I bought on my 21st birthday for this special occasion??.”
Nile Rodgers
After working on Renaissance‘s “Cuff It,” Nile Rodgers revealed that he also contributed guitar to the Post Malone-featuring “Levii’s Jeans.”
Rodgers co-posted a review of the song from Merck Mercuriadis, CEO of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, that read, “Dream has gone to a completely other level! Nile plays like you’ve never heard him before. Post Malone is superb on the assist. Beyonce is Cowboy Carter and she is culture in 2024!”
Several days before, he reposted a photo of Beyoncé without a caption, seemingly teasing his inclusion.
Linda Martell
On Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé shined a spotlight on country pioneer Linda Martell, whose album Color Me Country was the first major country album released by a Black woman.
Martell speaks the intro to “Spaghettii,” gets her own track, “The Linda Martell Show,” and presents a segue track introducing “Ya Ya” as a “tune [that] stretches across a range of genres, and that’s what makes it a unique listening experience.”
On Instagram, Martell shared her pride for Beyoncé in “exploring her country music roots.” “What she is doing is beautiful, and I’m honored to be a part of it. It’s Beyoncé, after all!” Martell wrote.
INK
After sharing that she worked on the album’s first two singles “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” prolific songwriter INK shared that she wrote, produced, and sang on “American Requiem,” the album’s opener.
“To come from playing guitar on the street to producing writing & singing on songs with @beyonce is beyond a dream,” she wrote on Instagram, sharing photos of herself in the studio. “Thank you B for everything and the entire Parkwood team for this ride we been on.”
Jean Dawson
Mexican American star Jean Dawson is manifesting a Grammy win for Cowboy Carter, on which he did musical arrangements. (He didn’t reveal on which tracks.)
“Did some arrangement on this album,” Dawson wrote on Instagram. “Thank you @beyonce for my first grammy. ??”
Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, and Tiera Kennedy
Beyoncé celebrated Black women in country music on a special cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” by featuring stars Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, and Tiera Kennedy. All four women had powerful words of gratitude for the singer.
“I’ve typed and deleted at least 10 captions. I don’t [have] anything clever or curated to say,” Spencer wrote on Instagram. “I’m on a Beyonce record. The album is a masterpiece.”
Roberts had a similar excited reaction, sharing that she also provided backing vocals for the track “Tyrant.” “My first feature ever is with Beyoncé, Thank you God,” she wrote. “And thank you to everyone who tagged her in my videos and comments yall made this happen. This is literally a dream come true. I will remember this day forever!”
Adell — who also joined Bey on “American Requiem” — shared a long letter dedicated to Beyoncé’s impact on her career on Instagram.
“I always say Beyoncé raised me. Beyoncé taught me how to be soft but strong,” she wrote. “Thank you Queen Bey for busting these gates wide open with this album. For letting your light spill over onto MY head.”
Kennedy thanked Beyoncé for letting her join on both “Blackbiird” and harmonizing vocals on “Tyrant.” “I couldn’t be more thankful. Thank you Beyoncé for shining your light,” she wrote. “This album is so important. It will not only change the future of country music but music as a whole and I cannot wait to watch it unfold.”
Shaboozey
In an Instagram post, Shaboozey wrote that he was “honored” to join “two historically significant Black voices,” Beyoncé and Martell, on tracks “Spaghetti” and “Sweet, Honey, Buckin.”
“Thank you for always being the one to step up and kick in a door when others are afraid to,” he wrote. “Texas born & raised, worked hard for yours. You are country. Put her in the Grand Ol’ Opry NOW! Love you!”
The Nigerian-American musician also used the special occasion to announce his album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, out May 31.
Jon Batiste
Batiste, who co-wrote and co-produced “Ameriican Requiem,” wrote a lengthy tweet about the experience.
“Producing and writing for AMERIICAN REQUIEM was an example of extraordinary alignment—when many leading artists see a similar vision at the same time, that’s when you know a major shift is happening,” he wrote. “A new era, long time coming.”
Arlo Parks
Arlo Parks revealed that she co-wrote the fan-favorite “Ya Ya” alongside Cadenza and Harry Edwards in a post the Tuesday following the album’s release.
“Being a part of this rich, culture shifting record truly feels like a dream come true…thank you Mariel for the trust, @Beyonce,” Parks wrote. “You are truly a FORCE – this is SPECIAL.”
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