Beyonce’s country rebrand offers a masterclass in entering new categories

We all know the huge impact that Beyonce’s wardrobe choices can have. Throughout her epic Renaissance Tour last year, she wore over 148 costumes – representing local designers from each city she performed in. A feat of logistics, yes, but more importantly, a bold statement of support for creatives within the fashion industry. Which she didn’t have to do – but could. Boom.

Her next power move came again at last month’s Grammy Awards – a sartorial showdown. Decked out in Louis Vuitton by Pharrell Williams, Bey arrived in a head-to-toe cowgirl look – a sartorial segue as she dropped two singles from her new album, Act II. And yes, she announced the album the following weekend while all eyes were on the Super Bowl. And I mean all eyes – 123.4m people tuned in to some or all of it. A historic Super Bowl – as 47.5% of those viewers were female. Thanks – I will bet almost exclusively – to Taylor and her Swifties.

I digress. This isn’t just any album for Beyonce. She’s gone country. A new genre for her – and one that has for too long been sorely lacking in Black artists. Did that stop history from being made? Nope. In true Beyonce style, ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ went to number one in Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, making her the first Black woman in modern music history to do so. And in case you need reminders of how enduring her career success has been, the song also topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart – her ninth time doing so as a solo artist. Twenty-nine million streams can’t be wrong.

Beyonce is not the first artist to take on the country music genre; Post Malone, Lana Del Ray, and even Ed Sheeran have dabbled with his Luke Combs ‘Life Goes On’ collab. Amid the Eras Tour and Travis Kelce of it all, it’s easy to forget that Taylor Swift also began her incredible career as a country music singer. But while she’s moved into the pop music space – and ensuing world domination – Beyonce’s gone the other way. She is tackling one of the most niche and closed-rank genres – following global success in the mainstream for over two decades.

For Beyonce, this isn’t just a new album. It’s a major rebrand. It is taking her personal brand and making every ounce scream, “I can play in this space.” The album was recorded last year, sure. But for us, Bey’s country era (and ours) began that night at the Grammy’s – and she hasn’t been without a cowboy hat since. And from what I can see on my commute and on my social feeds – cowgirl aesthetic contagion is real. A cursory glance at the analytics tells me global Google searches for ‘cowboy hat’ increased by 212.5% following Beyoncé’s Super Bowl commercial. ‘Cowboy boots’ were up by 163% and ‘bolo tie’ by 566%, not just because she wore it as a once-off. But because she has made the genre hers. She owns it now. It’s got its blue tick. Consider #cowboycore (used over 12M times and counting) – verified.

TikTok’s obviously obsessed too. ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ has already been used on hundreds of thousands of videos – and because Bey knows her hive well – the choreography lends itself perfectly to endless recreations on the platform. God, this woman is good. The looks are on point. The music’s obviously on point. And she’s putting her content exactly where the people are – speaking to them rather than at them–and inviting them to join along for the ride.

It just shows that with a strong enough brand, you can confidently stretch into new categories. So, now we have Beyonce, the cowgirl. And it feels natural. It is like we’ve never lived in a world where she wasn’t in the Stetson. Beyonce, I salute you.