Are Beyoncé, Jelly Roll, and Post Malone Country?
By Gord Ellis
Are Beyoncé, Jelly Roll and Post Malone country? This was the seed of the idea that led me to writing this column. Beyonce—Queen B, perhaps the most famous performer in the world—is known for her soul, R&B, and hip hop music, while Jelly Roll and Post Malone are both American singers best known for their hip hop, rap, and R&B offerings. So the question is can a hip hop artist make a country album? Or even a rock or pop singer for that matter? And what makes country music country? Is it that sound of a fiddle, or steel guitar? A twang in your voice? Or where you were born?
This has been a discussion I’ve seen waged online and at parties for years. There seems to be two camps: one side says Beyoncé is no more a country artist than George Strait is hip hop. Queen B is just too uptown, too shiny, and slick; George Strait wears a cowboy hat, blue jeans and grew up on a cattle ranch (although it's worth noting they were both born in Texas!) Then you have the other side, which recognizes artists don’t need to be defined by a genre. So just because someone started in one genre doesn’t mean they can’t try something new. Putting on a country hat is like putting on a suit—a rhinestone-studded Nudie suit, at that.
This conversation is not new. In fact, it goes back at least to the late 1960s if not before. In 1968, Bob Dylan—the voice of a generation—had taken a step back from his wild mercury sound and electric rock and was once again discovering more acoustic-based music. In 1969, he released Nashville Skyline, an album of what is largely traditional-sounding country, although imbued with a songwriting style that hit a bit different than Conway Twitty or Loretta Lynn. It featured Nashville session players and there was pedal steel, a whole lot of flatpicked guitar, and even a song sung with Johnny Cash. Lyrically, Dylan was far more pastoral, even romantic (“Lay Lady Lay” being the best known example). Not everyone loved country Bob, and some saw it as a sell out, but the album would have massive influence. The rise of the outlaw country movement, and the increase in popularity of artists like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash, was certainly goosed by Nashville Skyline.
Eagles always rode the edge of country, but were a bit too rocked-out for some traditional country fans. It may seem hard to believe in 2025, but back in the 1970s, more than a few people believed Eagles were country posers. Hating on the band back then was a parlour game. It didn’t matter that they were successful and had a huge fan base—country music fans were not supposed to like them. In 2025, the modern-day Eagles now have a blueblood country singer, Vince Gill, as a full member. Gill has said that he always admired and loved Eagles and that they influenced his career choices.
There have also been a fair number of artists who began in country and made their way into pop superstardom. Shania Twin certainly paved the way for this, slowly bending the sound of her records to appeal to a wider audience while making sure there was still a fiddle or steel guitar in there, just to “keep it country.” When she released her massive, world-wide smash, “Come on Over,” in 1998, she recorded both a country and an international “pop” version. Yes, there were some cries of her selling out and laments about her deserting country. But country music was part of Shania Twain, and her success would help springboard The Chicks, Lady A, and a raft of other female country acts.
And then, of course, there is Taylor Swift. She started as a country artist, too. That’s a whole other column.
So back to the question at hand: can we call Beyoncé a country artist because she did an album that has Dolly Parton on it? And will Post Malone or Jelly Roll be joining the Grand Ole Opry? I do enjoy all three of these artists, and they have proven to have a unique take on some of the country styles we all recognize. Jelly Roll and Post Malone are fine, emotive singers and have certainly found traction in modern country music. Whether they stick around in the now wildly popular format remains to be seen. And I loved “Texas Hold ‘Em’” when I first heard it, although some of the other things on Cowboy Carter were less successful. The fact there are nearly 90 writers listed on the album seems weird to me. Why did it take an army to write Queen B's country album? As the late, great Waylon Jennings sang “I don’t think Hank done it that way.”
But I don't think you can say Beyoncé is not a country artist because she has an army of writers writing her country songs. There are a lot of very famous country songs that have a half dozen names attached to them. But it feels to me like Cowboy Carter is just one stop Beyoncé will be making on her musical journey. So she is country, at least for now. Post Malone and Jelly Roll may be on the same ride, but that's not a bad thing either. They have both added something to a genre that has proven to be amongst the most resilient in the music business.