Queen Bey dropped her highly anticipated sequel to Renaissance March 29.
Beyoncé performs onstage during the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 11, 2023 in Atlanta.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood
Beyoncé‘s pivot to country — starting with the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Texas Hold ‘Em” and fellow lead single “16 Carriages” followed by the announcement of her latest album Cowboy Carter — shocked many listeners. But the the surprises didn’t stop there.
After the record dropped at midnight Friday (March 29), marking the beginning of the second act to Bey’s 2022 album Renaissance, fans were elated to see that the tracklist was packed with featured artists. The guest roster features legendary country pioneers — including a Dolly Parton-introduced new spin on Parton’s classic “Jolene” — as well as a handful of modern stars holding down the genre in 2024, plus a couple fellow pop titans who’ve also dabbled in the world of cowboy boots and fiddles. (Spoiler alert: That description includes, but isn’t limited to, a certain “Hoedown Throwdown” singer.)
The level of involvement each collaborator has on Cowboy Carter ranges from clever voice notes modeled after on-air disc-jockey transitions — in service of Bey’s KNTRY Radio concept — to full-on duets. It’s probably best to get one thing out of the way now, though: Neither Lady Gaga nor Taylor Swift are official contributors to the LP, though both of them were highly rumored to be. Sorry, “‘Telephone’ Pt. 2” truthers, as well as fans who loved seeing Beyoncé and Taylor show up to each other’s concert film premieres last year. Maybe next time.
From Dolly P to Miley C, keep reading to see a breakdown of all the artists Honey B included on her staggering new body of work, listed in alphabetical order below.
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Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts
Image Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BRELAND & Friends Track: “Blackbiird.”
In February, Tanner Adell tweeted: “As one of the only black girls in country music scene, I hope Bey decides to sprinkle me with a dash of her magic for a collab.”
Just over a month later, the rising star was revealed to be featured alongside fellow Black women rising in the modern country scene — Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts — on Beyoncé’s luminous cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird.”
Of penning the track back in 1968, Paul McCartney said in Barry Miles’ 1997 book Many Years From Now: “I had in mind a Black woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a Black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.’”
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Rumi Carter
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation Track: “Protector”
Rumi Carter is following in the footsteps of her big sister Blue Ivy — who’s previously been featured on her mom’s tracks “Blue” and “Brown Skin Girl” for The Lion King album — by making a cameo on “Protector.”
“Mom, can I hear the lullaby?” she coos at the beginning of the song. “Please?”
Bey’s youngest daughter and Sir, Rumi’s twin brother, turn 7 in June.
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Miley Cyrus
Image Credit: Jonnie Chambers Track: “II Most Wanted”
Bey’s silky voice blends in gorgeous harmony with Miley Cyrus’ raspy alto on this unexpected but glorious duet about finding mutual strength in a ride-or-die partnership. “Came out of nowhere didn’t give no warning/ Pedal so heavy like the two most wanted,” the two women sing. “I don’t know what you’re doing tonight/ But I’ll be your shotgun rider ’til the day I die.”
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Willie Jones
Image Credit: Sean Robinson Track: “Just for Fun”
“I’m goin’ down south just for fun, I am the man, I know it/ And everywhere I go, I hide my face,” Willie Jones joins Bey in the second verse of this mid-tracklist checkpoint. “From the cowboys and clovers, and the rodeo circus/ I came here for a reason, but I don’t know the purpose.”
Jones got his first big break at 17 years old on The X Factor. Since then, he’s released two studio albums — most recently, 2023’s Something to Dance To.
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Post Malone
Image Credit: Adam DeGross Track: “Levii’s Jeans”
Beyoncé lassoed her fellow Texas native Post Malone into a sexy ode inspired by one of America’s most well-known denim brands. “Come here my sexy little thing/ Snap a picture bring it on,” Posty sings with his instantly recognizable warble after a lead-in from Bey. “Oh girl, I wish I was your Levi’s jeans/ The way you’re popping on my phone.”
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Linda Martell
Image Credit: Sean Rayford/2021 CMT Awards/Getty Images for CMT Tracks: “Spaghettii” & “The Linda Martell Show”
Linda Martell is the rightful star of Bey’s musical shrine to country music history, appearing with Shaboozey on “Spaghettii” as well as on the interlude named in her honor, between “Flamenco” and “Ya Ya.” The 82-year-old singer-songwriter is a trailblazing country artist, becoming the first Black female soloist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 1969.
“Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes, they are,” she says in her first Cowboy Carter appearance. “In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand, but in practice, well, some may feel confined.”
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Willie Nelson
Image Credit: Pamela Springsteen Track: “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson” & “Smoke Hour II”
One of country music’s greatest and most storied living legends gets his moment on not one, but two interludes on Cowboy Carter — a full 20 years after Bey posed in a Willie Nelson t-shirt on the cover of Texas Monthly.
“Welcome to ’The Smoke Hour’ on KNTRY Radio Texas,” Nelson says during his first segment. “You know my name, no need to know yours. Now for this next tune, I want y’all to sit back, inhale, and go to the good place your mind likes to wander off to. And if you don’t wanna go, go find yourself a jukebox.”
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Dolly Parton
Image Credit: Miller Mobley/NBC via Getty Images Track: “Dolly P”
Dolly Parton lent her signature wit to a voice note that plays right before Beyoncé covers one of the country icon’s most famous hits, “Jolene,” on the next track.
“Hey Miss Honey B, it’s Dolly P,” the star opens her message, before referencing Bey’s iconic “Becky with the good hair” lyric on Lemonade.
“You know that hussy with the good hair you sang about? Reminded me of someone I knew back when, except she has flaming locks of auburn hair, bless her heart,” Parton continued. “Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
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Shaboozey
Image Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Dream Hotels Tracks: “Spaghettii” & “Sweet Honey Buckiin’”
“Outlaws with me, they gon’ shoot/ Keep the code, break the rules,” Shaboozey spits on “Spaghettii,” which is essentially the Wild West boiled down into a Beyoncé song. “We gon’ ride for every member that we lose/ Someone here brought fire, ain’t no tellin’ who.”
The Virginia artist’s new album Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going arrives just a couple months after Cowboy Carter, dropping May 31.