The debate over the laurels of 'real country' vs the fake rages forward. Fittingly, all this discussion focuses on Beyoncé and her country album Cowboy Carter. Surprisingly, the CMA Awards don't reward her at all for her album-long investment into the genre. Consequently, people take their sides accordingly in defending Queen Bey or arguing against her. Considering Dolly Parton gave her blessing to Beyoncé for her interpretation of Jolene, you'd think they'd be together on this. However, Parton actually backs the establishment in this debate.
Recently, Dolly spoke with Variety for an interview. There, they ask her what she thinks about the fiery debate over why Beyoncé didn't get love from the CMA Awards. Parton argues that this year proves to be a strong year for country. Moreover, she figures that those who stay in country music permanently should wrangle in the acclaim.
She says, "There's so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can't really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that."
Dolly Parton Argues Those Who Live and Breathe Country Music Should Receive The Nominations
This isn't a slight at Beyoncé for Dolly Parton either. She's been more than vocal in supporting Queen Bey in her foray into country music. Parton gave her the blessing to interpret Jolene into something fresh and new as well.
However, she reckons it's less of an overt snub and more loyalty to the country mainstays. "I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good. So I don't think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album."
Honestly, Dolly is right. Beyoncé herself admits ahead of the album that, even though she's serving the history of country well, it's still a Beyoncé album. She may have created Cowboy Carter in reaction to the time country music slighted her in the past. But it doesn't exist as an album begging for that recognition. We can save it for those who live and breathe country music. Then again, it's still just the CMA Awards. I don't know how prestigious we're talking here.
