When Beyonce took the stage at the CMA’s with The Dixie Chicks, there were a lot of people who were shocked to see the R&B artist at a country music awards show. Beyonce doesn’t do anything close to country music. One country music legend, Alan Jackson, reportedly got up and walked out!

A Nashville manager commented about the performance, saying, “The overall show was great, but in my opinion, that seemed out of place and felt forced. It just didn’t fit the night to me, celebrating the 50 years, and the Dixie Chicks seemed like her backup band on it, without enough of a real shout-out to them. I was sitting behind Alan Jackson, and he actually stood up from the front row and walked out in middle of the performance, so I think that spoke volumes for the traditional, real country acts.”
Gotta Keep ‘Em Separated
It is an understandable sentiment. There is nothing wrong with keeping music genres separated. People want their country music. People want their rock and roll. People want their R&B. There is no point in trying to make up some kind of homogeneous product that record executives can sell to everybody!

In the video below, Alan Jackson honored Randy Travis at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Randy is a true country star, not some wanna be like Beyonce.

Or there’s another simple solution: Beyonce could do a country song at least.

Become Like Jelly Roll
At the 2023 CMA Awards, former hip hop artist Jelly Roll took the stage – because he’s making country music!

And speaking of Jelly Roll, he really took country to heart. While accepting an award, he went “full tent revival” as one commenter pointed out: