Beyonce Delivers Powerful Statement on Country Music at Stunning ‘Cowboy Carter' Tour Opener via Rolling Stone
- Lacrystal Parker
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Story by Tomás Mier, Article by Rolling Stone
At one point during Beyoncé's 36-song, western-themed Cowboy Carter tour opener, the words "Never ask permission for something that already belongs to you" were illuminated in red across the massive screen. In many ways, the unapologetic mantra defined Beyoncé's approach to what some have dismissed as her "country foray. But instead of reclaiming anything, she celebrated the Black origins of country culture and its evolution.
Beyoncé's three-hour performance at SoFi Stadium on Monday night was a beast to digest. It also reminded her audience exactly how she's paved a lane of her own, packing the set with the country-tinged songs off Cowboy Carter while calling back to its ballroom-inspired predecessor, Renaissance, multiple times.
"I want to thank all of those who came before me," said Beyoncé, dressed in a gorgeous white leather ensemble by Mugler and a matching cowboy hat, as images of Linda Martell and other Black country pioneers flashed onscreen. "I want to thank my fans for letting me make this album. Thank you for giving me the creative liberty to challenge myself."
The Cowboy Carter show is far more than a country spectacle, however. That was clear from the start as she shook off her cowboy hat during "Ya Ya" to deliver quintessential Beyoncé-isms: the hair flips and classic dance moves. Yes, the banjos rang loudly during "Texas Hold ‘Em," the fiddle carried renditions of "II Most Wanted" and "Blackbiird," and she and her dancers rocked chaps, cowboy hats, and giant belt buckles throughout. But, ultimately, Beyoncé delivered a Beyoncé-caliber stadium show devoid of genre limitations, and anchored by the stunning choreography of her more than 24 backup dancers.
Woven throughout the performance were impressive visuals and interludes that placed Beyoncé in a Wild West backdrop, portraying her as an "outsider" in a place she was never meant to belong. By the concert's end, she shattered that narrative - defeating an older, white cowboy in a stylized gun duel, bullets ricocheting off her body. The scene seemed to echo her exclusion from the Country Music Association Awards and, more broadly, Nashville's white-dominated industry, which has long black-balled the singer. But during the performance Beyoncé made it clear she doesn't need anyone's approval - she's bigger than that.
Beyoncé layered Cowboy Carter‘s patriotic visual themes with more symbolic depth. She opened the show with "American Requiem," then shifted from a soft rendition of "Blackbiird" to a jarring take on the national anthem, set to Jimi Hendrix's haunting guitar performance from Woodstock 1969. Hendrix's version, delivered a year after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, stood as a protest amid a time of unrest. For Beyoncé, it became both a tribute and a reminder of America's turbulent past and present. Fittingly, she continued into "Freedom," which served as the soundtrack for Kamala Harris' failed 2024 presidential campaign. She also delivered "America Has a Problem" featuring Kendrick Lamar's verse with a press conference-style backdrop, and declared, "but they never take the country out me" during a powerful rendition of "Formation."
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Dates for the Cowboy Carter Tour
04/28/25 - Inglewood, California @ SoFi Stadium
05/01/25 - Inglewood, California @ SoFi Stadium
05/04/25 - Inglewood, California @ SoFi Stadium
05/07/25 - Inglewood, California @ SoFi Stadium
05/09/25 - Inglewood, California @ SoFi Stadium
05/15/25 - Chicago, Illinois @ Soldier Field
05/17/25 - Chicago, Illinois @ Soldier Field
05/18/25 - Chicago, Illinois @ Soldier Field
05/22/25 - East Rutherford, New Jersey @ MetLife Stadium
05/24/25 - East Rutherford, New Jersey @ MetLife Stadium
05/25/25 - East Rutherford, New Jersey @ MetLife Stadium
05/28/25 - East Rutherford, New Jersey @ MetLife Stadium
05/29/25 - East Rutherford, New Jersey @ MetLife Stadium
06/05/25 - London, England @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
06/07/25 - London, England @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
06/10/25 - London, England @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
06/12/25 - London, England @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
06/14/25 - London, England @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
06/16/25 - London, England @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
06/19/25 - Saint-Denis, France @ Stade de France
06/21/25 - Saint-Denis, France @ Stade de France
06/22/25 - Saint-Denis, France @ Stade de France
06/28/25 - Houston, Texas @ NRG Stadium
06/29/25 - Houston, Texas @ NRG Stadium
07/04/25 - Landover, Maryland @ Northwest Stadium
07/07/25 - Landover, Maryland @ Northwest Stadium
07/10/25 - Atlanta, Georgia @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
07/11/25 - Atlanta, Georgia @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
07/13/25 - Atlanta, Georgia @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
07/14/25 - Atlanta, Georgia @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
07/25/25 - Las Vegas, Nevada @ Allegiant Stadium
07/26/25 - Las Vegas, Nevada @ Allegiant Stadium
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