Dolly Parton defends CMAs after Beyoncé overlooks ‘Cowboy Carter’

All of you please remain assured.

Dolly Parton does not believe Beyoncé was intentionally left out of the 2024 CMA Awards.

The 78-year-old music icon spoke to Variety in an interview published Tuesday and reacted to Bey’s chart-topping country album, “Cowboy Carter,” being left off this year’s CMA Awards nominations list.

“Well, you never know,” Parton said. “There are so many great country artists that, I think maybe the country music field thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of them who spend their whole lives doing this. But I didn’t even realize that until somebody asked me that question.”

Parton allowed Bey, 43, to cover her hit song “Jolene” in “Cowboy Carter.” She also appears on the album in a 30-second interlude called “Dolly P.”

Calling Beyoncé’s latest work “an amazing album,” Parton said the “Halo” singer “should be very, very proud” of making “Cowboy Carter.”

Parton added, “And I think everybody in country music welcomed that and thought it was cool.”

“So I don’t think it was like an intentional thing to do. I think it was just what the country charts and country artists do all the time, not just one particular album,” he added.

Parton praised Beyoncé’s landmark country album and said she was “fortunate” to be included on it.

“Well, ‘Jolene’ was on Beyoncé’s album, and I thought that was a great album,” Parton said. “She’s a country girl from Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up in that environment. It’s not like she just appeared out of nowhere.”

When asked if she would sing the song “Jolene” with Bey, Parton replied, “Yes, I’m up for anything.”

“Cowboy Carter” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart.

The album’s hit single “Texas Hold ‘Em” topped Hot Country Songs for 10 weeks.

Despite the success, Beyoncé failed to receive a single endorsement from the Country Music Association.

Morgan Wallen has the most nominations at the 2024 CMAs, with seven nominations. Post Malone, who features on “Cowboy Carter,” received four nominations for collaborating with Wallen, 31, on the song “I Had Some Help.”

The awards ceremony will take place in November.

Beyoncé previously ventured into country music in 2016 with the song “Daddy Lessons” from her album “Lemonade.” She performed the track with The Chicks at the 2016 CMA Awards — an event that inspired her to create a country album.

In an Instagram post shared about “Cowboy Carter” in March, Beyoncé wrote, “It was born out of an experience that happened to me years ago where I didn’t feel welcome… and it was very clear that I was not welcome.”

“But because of that experience, I dove deeper into the history of country music and studied our rich music archive,” he said.

Though “Cowboy Carter” didn’t receive attention from the CMAs, the album is a favorite for the 2025 Grammy Awards.