Brittney Spencer seems on Beyoncé’s cowl of The Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’, which is a tribute tot he civil rights motion. (Getty)
Beyoncé simply dropped her new country-inspired album Cowboy Carter, that includes a litany of fantastic artists featured on each authentic tracks and reimagined covers.
Specifically, she coated The Beatles’ 1968 track “Blackbird” together with a quartet of unimaginable Black nation singers: Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Brittney Spencer, and Reyna Roberts. Right here’s what we learn about them:
Who’s Brittney Spencer?
Brittney Spencer grew to become well-known after a viral Twitter video of her singing a canopy of the track “Crowded Desk” by the Highwomen was observed by the group’s members Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires.
She additionally carried out “Independence Day” by Martina McBride on the 2021 ACM Honors and closed out the Academy of Nation Music Awards in 2022 with nation music duo Brothers Osborne, each going down on the iconic nation music venue the Grand Ole Opry.
Spencer’s debut album, titled My Silly Life, was launched earlier this 12 months and hailed by Rolling Stone as “a debut nation document that’s sure to cement Spencer’s place within the style”.
Who’s Tanner Adell?
Tanner Adell is an American nation music singer-songwriter whose debut album, Buckle Bunny, was launched in 2023. Adell has mentioned that she manifested her involvement with Beyoncé’s album, tweeting in February that she’d like to work with the star.
She wrote: “As one of many solely black ladies within the nation music scene, I hope Bey decides to sprinkle me with a touch of her magic for a collab.”
Adell thanked Beyoncé on X (previously Twitter) after the album dropped.
Who’s Tiera Kennedy?
Kennedy is greatest generally known as the host of Apple Music’s The Tiera Present, and coated Beyoncé’s “Texas Maintain ‘Em” simply final month. She found her voice at a younger age and says that she taught herself learn how to play guitar by watching YouTube movies.
Initially from Birmingham, Alabama, she carried out at native venues earlier than opening up her horizons additional, acting at iconic Nashville venues The Bluebird Café and The Listening Room.
Who’s Reyna Roberts?
Reyna Roberts is an American nation singer-songwriter and pianist. After the discharge of Cowboy Carter, Roberts mentioned she was “grateful” to Beyoncé. On her Instagram story, she mentioned: “I’m so grateful. You’ve at all times been my inspiration. I’m in awe of you ceaselessly and at all times Beyoncé.”
Roberts mentioned that her music has been inadvertently promoted by Beyoncé’s foray into the nation scene, telling Complicated that she was “excited” for Beyoncé to make extra nation music.
“I like that she’s breaking down obstacles and she or he’s already having an impression after the discharge of her two singles. I’ve gained most likely near 400,000 new followers throughout all my social media platforms, and persons are additionally streaming my album, which is a large deal as a result of that doesn’t at all times translate,” Roberts defined.
Who sang “Blackbird” initially?
Blackbird was written by Paul McCartney and appeared on The Beatles’ 1968 album and is taken into account by many to be the right track for Beyoncé to cowl.
The track was written in tribute to the civil rights motion, significantly the Little Rock 9, a bunch of scholars who confronted racial discrimination after attending the all-white Little Rock highschool in 1957.
In 2018, McCartney advised GQ Journal: “I’d heard concerning the civil rights troubles that have been occurring within the 60s, in Alabama, Mississippi, Little Rock, particularly. I simply thought it’d be actually good if I may write one thing that if it ever reached any of the folks going by means of these issues, it’d give ’em a bit little bit of hope. So, I wrote Blackbird.”
Beforehand, McCartney mentioned that the track was written with a Black girl in thoughts, “fairly than a fowl”.
“These have been the times of the civil rights motion, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was actually a track from me to a Black girl, experiencing these issues within the States: ‘Let me encourage you to maintain attempting, to maintain your religion, there may be hope.’,” he was quoted as saying within the 1997 guide Many Years From Now by Barry Miles.
Why did Beyoncé make Cowboy Carter?
Cowboy Carter is Beyoncé’s eight studio album and the second instalment of a three-part musical undertaking – the primary being Act I: Renaissance. It options 27 tracks and contains vocals and enter from the likes of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Publish Malone, Linda Martell – who was the primary Black feminine solo artist to play the Grand Ole Opry – and Willie Jones.
Earlier this month, Beyoncé posted an announcement to her social media which learn: “I really feel honored to be the primary Black girl with the primary single on the Scorching Nation Songs chart. That might not have occurred with out the outpouring of assist from each one in all you. My hope is that years from now, the point out of an artist’s race, because it pertains to releasing genres of music, will probably be irrelevant.”
The artist additionally spoke out about feeling unwelcome inside the nation music area, main her to do a “deeper dive into the historical past of nation music”.
“The criticisms I confronted after I first entered this style pressured me to propel previous the restrictions that have been placed on me. act ii is a results of difficult myself, and taking my time to bend and mix genres collectively to create this physique of labor,” she added.