Beyoncé Drops ‘Cowboy Carter’ Featuring ‘Jolene’ Cover, Miley Cyrus Collab & More

Beyoncé has gone country with “Cowboy Carter,” and she is topping the charts!

The new 27-track album, also known as “Act II,” dropped at midnight, and features some of the biggest names in country.

There has been much talk about Bey’s fiery new cover of Dolly Parton’s 1973 hit “Jolene,” and Parton even delivers a message on the album on a track called “Dolly P.”

Referencing “Becky” from Bey’s “Lemonade” album, Dolly says, “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. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”

Bey switched up some of the lyrics for her version of “Jolene,” like the line, “We’ve been deep in love for twenty years / I raised that man, I raised his kids / I know my man better than he knows himself (Hah, wait) / I can easily understand why you’re attracted to my man / But you don’t want this smoke / So shoot your shot with someone else (You heard me).”

Dolly reacted to the cover, posting, “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!”

Country great Willie Nelson appears as a deejay on the album’s fictional KNTRY radio station on the tracks “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson” and “Smoke Hour II.”

Bey also pays homage to the first Black female country star Linda Martell, who appears on an interlude introducing “Ya Ya.”

Queen Bey included some duets, too — her tune “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus, “Levii’s Jeans” with Post Malone, and “Spaghettii” with Shaboozey.

Miley posted a sweet message about their collab, sharing, “My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her. Thank you Beyoncé. You’re everything & more. Love you.”

Black country artists Rhiannon Giddens, Tanner Adell, and Willie Jones also appear on the album.

In a special track called “Protector,” Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi, 6, make her album debut.

Rumi’s voice can be heard saying, “Mom, can I hear the lullaby, please?” at the very beginning of the emotional song.

In the chorus, Bey sings, “I will lead you down that road if you lose your way / Born to be a protector / Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own / I will be your projector.”

In a track called “Sweet Honey Buckin'” featuring hip hop and country music artist Shaboozey, Beyoncé addresses being continuously passed over for Album of the Year at the Grammys. Her husband JAY-Z took aim at the Recording Academy in his speech at this year’s ceremony.

Beyoncé sings, “A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win (Let’s go) / I ain’t stung by them / Take that sh*t on the chin / Come back and f*ck up the pen.”

Earlier this month, she wrote on Instagram, “I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect. I hope that you can hear my heart and soul, and all the love and passion that I poured into every detail and every sound.”

She also declared, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”

Bey thanked fans for their support of her two singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” writing, “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”