Luke Bryan thinks there’s one way Beyoncé could have helped herself nab a nomination for the Country Music Association Awards.
On SiriusXM’s “Andy Cohen Live” this week, the “One Margarita” singer shared his theory as to why Queen Bey was snubbed by the country world.
While Beyoncé’s album “Cowboy Carter” made history on Billboard’s country charts, it didn’t get major airplay on country radio or earn a single nomination for November’s CMA Awards.
Calling the CMAs controversy a “tough” topic to tackle, Bryan began by telling Cohen that no one should feel entitled to an honor, no matter how major a star.
“Just ’cause I make one [album], I don’t get any nominations,” said Bryan. “A lot of great music is overlooked.”
“Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album,” the “Play It Again” singer told Cohen. “Nobody’s mad about it.”
But as Bryan went on, he suggested that the “Texas Hold ’Em” superstar could have made more of an effort to connect with the Nashville music scene.
“But 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,” the “American Idol” judge said.
“Beyoncé can do exactly what she wants to. She’s probably the biggest star in music,” he continued. “But come to an award show and high-five us. And have fun and get in the family, too.”
Bryan said he wasn’t making any accusations, just offering his perspective as a veteran of the industry.
“I’m not saying she didn’t do that,” he told Cohen. “But country music’s a lot about family. We get pissed at each other, too.”
Beyoncé has been more than frank about how she’s felt excluded by Nashville in the past.
Before releasing “Cowboy Carter” this March, she told fans how the album 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.”
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote on Instagram.
