The 2025 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards nominations dropped on September 8, 2025, and the message reverberated through Nashville like a steel guitar riff: Beyoncé, despite her chart-topping Cowboy Carter, isn’t country enough for the CMAs. After months of buzz around her genre-bending album, which made history as the first by a Black woman to top Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, fans were poised for a landmark moment. Would Queen Bey, with her global star power and a critically acclaimed foray into country, finally break through the genre’s gatekeepers? The answer was a resounding no—not a single nomination for Cowboy Carter, its hit single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” or any of its star-studded collaborations. Instead, the spotlight shines on artists like Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Cody Johnson, and Zach Top, who each racked up multiple nods, cementing their status as the beating heart of country music. The snub has ignited a firestorm of debate: Was Beyoncé unfairly shut out, or are the CMAs drawing a line to protect the genre’s soul? Strap in, because this controversy is as heated as a Texas summer.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, released March 29, 2024, was no small feat. The 27-track opus, five years in the making, was a love letter to country music’s roots, weaving together folk, R&B, gospel, and Western influences with collaborations from legends like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton to rising stars like Shaboozey and Tanner Adell. It soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, with “Texas Hold ‘Em” becoming the first song by a Black woman to top the Hot Country Songs chart and the all-genre Hot 100. The album earned 11 Grammy nominations, including five in country categories, and won Best Country Album and Album of the Year in February 2025, making Beyoncé the first Black woman to claim the former. Critics hailed it as a groundbreaking reclamation of country’s Black heritage, with tracks like “Blackbiird”—a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” featuring Black female artists—celebrating the genre’s unsung pioneers. Yet, when the CMA nominations rolled out, Cowboy Carter was nowhere to be found.

The omission sent shockwaves through social media. Fans, dubbed the BeyHive, flooded X with outrage, calling the snub “blatant disrespect” and “misogynoir at its finest.” One user posted, “Beyoncé broke records, honored country legends, and still got zero nods? The CMAs are screaming she’s not welcome.” Another wrote, “This is bigger than Beyoncé—it’s about Black women being erased from country music.” The debate gained traction as high-profile voices weighed in. Kelly Clarkson, a Grammy-winning artist with country roots, called the shutout “fascinating,” noting, “Those songs were everywhere.” Shaboozey, a Cowboy Carter collaborator nominated for New Artist and Single of the Year for “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” thanked Beyoncé on Instagram, writing, “Thank you for opening a door for us and giving us one of the most innovative country albums of all time.” Even Dionne Warwick called the snub “absolutely ridiculous.”

On the other side, the CMA’s choices reflect a commitment to artists who embody country music’s daily grind. Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley, and Megan Moroney lead with six nominations each, recognized for their raw storytelling and relentless presence in the genre. Wilson, the reigning Entertainer of the Year, earned nods for Album, Female Vocalist, and Single of the Year for “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” Langley, a breakout star, and Moroney, known for her emotive hits like “Tennessee Orange,” represent the new guard of women dominating country radio. Cody Johnson and Zach Top, with four and five nominations respectively, bring traditional grit, with Johnson’s “Dirt Cheap” and Top’s “Sounds Like the Radio” resonating as anthems of the heartland. Morgan Wallen, despite past controversies, scored three nods, while Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs round out the Entertainer of the Year category. These artists, fans argue, live and breathe country, performing at dive bars, county fairs, and the Grand Ole Opry, not just dipping into the genre for a one-off project.

The debate over Beyoncé’s snub hinges on what “country” means in 2025. For some, Cowboy Carter is undeniably country, steeped in the genre’s history and executed with unparalleled artistry. Beyoncé herself framed the album as a response to feeling unwelcome, referencing her 2016 CMA performance of “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks, which drew racist backlash. “This album was born out of an experience where I did not feel welcomed,” she wrote on Instagram, “and it was very clear that I wasn’t.” Her deep dive into country’s archives, spotlighting pioneers like Linda Martell, earned praise for amplifying Black voices in a genre that’s often sidelined them. A 2021 Tennessean report noted Black female artists had nearly zero airplay on country radio from 2002 to 2020, and only one Black artist, Charley Pride, has won Entertainer of the Year (in 1971). For Beyoncé’s supporters, her exclusion feels like a continuation of this erasure, especially when compared to Post Malone, who earned four CMA nods for his country debut F-1 Trillion, featuring Nashville heavyweights like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs.

Others argue the CMAs are protecting the genre’s authenticity. Country music thrives on radio airplay, and while “Texas Hold ‘Em” topped charts, some stations were slow to embrace it, a key factor in CMA eligibility. Luke Bryan, a 2024 CMA host, stirred the pot by suggesting Beyoncé didn’t fully immerse herself in the country world. “Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album,” he said on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, “but if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit.” His comments sparked backlash, with fans retorting that Beyoncé, a Texas native, is inherently tied to country’s roots, and her collaborators like Rhiannon Giddens and Tanner Adell prove her commitment. Still, some X users agreed with Bryan, posting, “Beyoncé didn’t play the Nashville game. You can’t just drop an album and expect CMA love.” Another wrote, “Country’s about community—Wilson and Johnson are out there every day, not just making a ‘country’ album.”

The snub raises deeper questions about gatekeeping in country music. The genre has long been a boys’ club, with women making up just 11% of radio airplay in 2022, per The 19th. Black women face even steeper barriers, with artists like Mickey Guyton and Rissi Palmer vocal about the industry’s resistance. Cowboy Carter boosted streams for Black country artists like Guyton and Adell by 31-59%, per Billboard, yet the CMAs overlooked these contributions. Shaboozey’s nominations, while celebrated, don’t fully bridge the gap—his success, tied to a viral hit, fits a more mainstream mold. Posts on X reflect this tension: “Shaboozey got nods, but Beyoncé carried him on Cowboy Carter. Where’s her credit?” Meanwhile, Dolly Parton, whose “Jolene” Beyoncé covered, defended the CMAs, saying, “I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out on purpose. There’s so many wonderful country artists who do this all the time.”

The 2025 CMAs, airing November 19 on ABC, will be a celebration of country’s core, with Wilson, Langley, and Moroney leading a strong female presence. But Beyoncé’s absence looms large. Her Grammy wins and Cowboy Carter’s cultural impact—spiking searches for Western wear and inspiring USA Gymnastics’ Olympic routines—prove her influence transcends awards. As one fan tweeted, “The CMAs don’t deserve Beyoncé. She’s bigger than their boxes.” Yet for traditionalists, the nominations honor those who’ve earned their stripes in Nashville’s trenches. The debate isn’t just about one artist—it’s about who gets to claim country music’s legacy. With Cowboy Carter’s tour announced for 2025, Beyoncé’s not slowing down. The CMAs may have said she’s not country, but she’s rewriting the genre’s story, one chart-topping hit at a time.