Luke Bryan discussed how Beyoncé’s breakthrough country album, “Cowboy Carter,” was the number one album on the charts but she was left off of the CMA Awards nominations.
“Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. No one is upset about it. On SiriusXM’s “Andy Cohen Live” on Monday, the singer stated, “But here’s where things get a little tricky. If you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit.” “Beyoncé has complete control over her actions. He continued, “She’s arguably the biggest star in music.”
Luke Bryan defended the Country Music Association’s voting body after Beyoncé was shut out of this year’s nominations.
“If you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit,” the country singer said on “Andy Cohen Live.”
“But come to an award show and high-five us, and have fun and get in the family, too. And I’m not saying she didn’t do that. … But country music’s a lot about family.”
Bryan, 48, also said, “I’m all for everybody coming in and making country albums and all that. But just by declaring that, just because she made one — just ’cause I make one, I don’t get any nominations.”
The “American Idol” judge also referenced the pop star’s fans, known as the Beyhive, for criticizing her Country Music Association’s snub.
He also suggested the 32-time Grammy winner should “come to an award show and high-five us, and have fun and get in the family.”
Bryan, seen smiling at SiriusXM Studios Monday, also claimed that “everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album.”
“Beyoncé has a lot of fans out there that have her back,” Bryan noted. “And if she doesn’t get something they want, man, they come at you — as fans should do.”
The “Drunk on You” singer isn’t the first to address Beyoncé’s lack of CMA nominations.
Last month, Dolly Parton — who’s notably featured on “Cowboy Carter” — defended the association’s voting committee during an interview with Variety.
Beyoncé released her debut country album, “Cowboy Carter,” earlier this year.
It nabbed the No. 1 spot on the charts following its release in March.
“There’s so many wonderful country artists that … they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that,” Parton, 78, said.
“But it was a wonderful album. She can be very, very proud of, and I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good.”
The music icon continued, “So I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.”
Dolly Parton — who’s featured on “Cowboy Carter” — also defended the CMA snub while speaking to Variety in September.
“There’s so many wonderful country artists that … they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that,” Parton said.
Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson sympathized with Beyoncé’s situation in a recent interview with NBC10 Boston as she recalled the country music genre being “hard” to break into.
“I was told at a lunch if I didn’t quit pop music and just go country, I would not be played,” she said.
“I was literally told that to my face at a lunch, and I was like, ‘OK, no offense, but I’m not ever gonna just pick one.’”
Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson sympathized with the “Lemonade” songstress as she recalled her challenges breaking into the country genre.
“I was told at a lunch if I didn’t quit pop music and just go country, I would not be played,” she told NBC10 Boston in September.
Following the backlash to her 2016 CMAs performance of “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks, Beyoncé explained that she was prepared for the pushback when she discussed her motivation to release a country album back in March.
“This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
“But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
Beyoncé recalled not being welcomed into the country music community prior to the album’s release in March.
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote at the time.
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she continued.
“act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
The 32-time Grammy winner added, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”