Since even whispers of its release started to make their rounds, Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album has been the center of one of country music’s greatest controversies since 2024. The mixed opinions of genre traditionalists and, of course, “Queen B” superfans have once again come out of the woodwork following the news that her tour has become the highest-grossing country tour ever.
The consequent “Cowboy Carter” tour recently completed its last leg Saturday night, July 27, in Las Vegas with a number of surprise guests joining her throughout the night, such as a Destiny’s Child reunion, husband Jay Z, daughter Blue Ivy, and the only slightly country addition, “Bar Song” singer, Shaboozey. Following its kick-off in April, the tour spanned across the country and worldwide to 32 shows.
While the alleged categorization of the tour as “country music” continues to be debated, it has far surpassed any other tour in the genre with over $400 million in revenue, according to a statement on Monday from Live Nation. Impressively, each night featured a 2-hour and 45-minute show that featured a mix of songs off of the 27-track “Cowboy Carter” album as well as a number of her genre-blending past hits.
While Beyonce continues to break records in country music and take home a number of awards, including this year’s Grammy award winner for Best Country Album and Album of the Year, she’s voiced her feelings of rejection from the genre. The number of arguments about her questionable “country” songs echoes those concerns.
Country music fans can be pretty hard-headed about today’s growing fluidity of the genre’s sound and the number of outside artists that continue to dip their toes into it. For artists like previously hip-hop/pop singer Post Malone, who have long displayed an admiration and passion for the genre (as well as a proven appreciation for the stereotypical roots of country music), there is generally a lot of voiced support. However, many claim that some artists join in for the sake of the trend or simply just blanket describe any song with a Western photoshoot as the cover as country music, which is where many would place Beyonce’s work. Given this track record, fans had a lot to say following the news of her tour’s success on social media.
However, it’s not all bad press for the 9-album veteran in the music industry; after all, you don’t just bust out a $40 million tour without an army of dedicated fans backing you. Beyoncé fans are diligent, and their streaming powers further prove her fan base. Just this past Sunday, newcomer Hudson Westbrook excitingly surpassed Cowboy Carter on the Apple Country charts with his debut album, “Texas Forever” at number 3, but only for a split second before fans boosted its prominence back to its original spot. These strong-headed supporters weren’t shy in the comments either.
Given that the tour is now officially over, maybe this means the brooding debate between fans will finally start to die down about Beyoncé’s “country” influence. Nonetheless, the album and tour’s success is undeniably impressive and a feat that will now set a precedent for country music’s biggest tours to come. Unfortunately, it may be a hard number to beat given Beyonce’s widespread fan base across genres gives her a leg up in exposure and revenue.