Topline
Some of the top names in country music—including some Beyoncé collaborators—will perform at the Stagecoach music festival this weekend, and online theories have been swirling that Beyoncé may make a surprise performance herself.
Key Facts
Several artists featured on her new album “Cowboy Carter” are performing at the festival: Post Malone, Willie Nelson and Tanner Adell are performing Saturday, and Brittany Spencer and Willie Jones are performing Sunday.
Stagecoach’s official website lists all performers in alphabetical order with links to all of their socials and some music platforms, but there’s a performer fans are suspicious about named DJ Backwoods Barbie who only has a link to an anonymous Instagram account.
There’s no hard evidence linking the superstar to “DJ Backwoods Barbie” or the Stagecoach festival in general, but fans are speculating Backwoods Barbie may be Beyoncé because there are several posts on the Instagram page with references to the singer’s “Cowboy Carter” album, and “Backwoods Barbie” is the name of an album by Dolly Parton, who was also featured on Beyoncé’s new album.
The Backwoods Barbie account also only follows six accounts: Dolly Parton, Morgan Wallen, Diplo, Guy Fieri, the official Stagecoach Instagram page and Beyoncé.
Fans also reported sightings of “Cowboy Carter”-branded semi-trucks and airplane banners during both weekends of Coachella, which is the sister festival to Stagecoach and held at the the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, the same venue as Stagecoach.
Big Number
407,000. That’s how many album units “Cowboy Carter” earned in its first week out, according to Billboard, using data from entertainment data company Luminate. The album, released March 29, became her eighth album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 charts. It also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, making Beyoncé the first Black woman in the chart’s 60 year history to hold this title.
Key Background
Artists are known to make surprise guest appearances at Stagecoach. Last year, rapper Nelly brought out BRELAND for a performance of their song “High Horse,” and Kane Brown brought out wife Katelyn to perform their No. 1 song “Thank God.” Lana Del Rey made a surprise appearance during Nikki Lane’s set to sing two songs together in 2022, and Diplo brought Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus on stage to perform their No. 1 hit “Old Town Road” in 2019.
Tangent
Though Beyoncé said in an Instagram post “Cowboy Carter” “ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” many critics have noted its country undertones and genre-bending elements. In the same post, the singer said the album was five years in the making, alluding to an experience where she felt unwelcomed, causing her to do a “deeper dive into the history of country music.” Beyoncé performed at the 2016 Country Music Awards alongside the Chicks—formerly known as the Dixie Chicks—and received hate from some country fans who felt she didn’t belong at the awards show because she wasn’t “what country represents,” according to the New York Times. The Houston-born singer hinted at this criticism during “Ameriican Requiiem,” the opener of her new album, by singing “Used to say I spoke ‘too country’ / And then the rejection came, said I wasn’t country enough.”
Forbes Valuation
We estimated Beyoncé’s net worth at $800 million in December.
Further Reading
Beyoncé’s C.M.A. Awards Performance Becomes the Target of Backlash (New York Times)
On ‘Cowboy Carter,’ Beyoncé’s country is as broad as the public she serves (NPR)
