Female country artists make up just 11% of country music stations’ airplay, while black country artists and artists of color represent less than 4% of the songs played on the radio.

In 2016, Beyoncé faced backlash for her performance of her country-tinged song “Daddy Lessons,” with The Chicks at the 50th annual CMA Awards. While the singer received some applause, others in the country music space criticized her, with her performance even being scrubbed from the CMA website.

Luke Bryan is venturing a guess at why Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter” was snubbed by the Country Music Assn. Awards. Despite the album debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart — making Beyoncé the first Black woman ever to top the chart — it was shut out of the 2024 CMA Awards nominations,