Because I don’t believe the Grammys are a big deal whatsoever, I didn’t pay much attention to the “snubs” and “surprises” within this year’s nominations. I mean, didn’t we all know that Beyonce and Adele were going to sweep through most of the major categories? Sure, there were notable snubs for Drake, the late David Bowie, Justin Timberlake (hahaha, his stupid/awful “Can’t Stop the Feeling” didn’t get nominated in any major category) and Frank Ocean (although Ocean’s snubs are very complicated). But basically, we knew what we were getting: a diva showdown. But here’s something I didn’t realize: Beyonce submitted her collaboration with the Dixie Chicks, “Daddy Lessons,” in the Country categories. And she got snubbed.
Better luck next time, Bey. Beyoncé’s hit “Daddy Lessons” was rejected by the Grammy Recording Academy’s country music committee despite the fact that she performed the song with the Dixie Chicks — to great acclaim from fans, and controversy from racist corners — at the CMA Awards earlier this year. On Wednesday, December 7, a source familiar with the Grammy nomination process told The Associated Press that even though Queen Bey, 35, had submitted the twangy song for the category, it was summarily rejected.
In November, Beyoncé surprised fans and caused a minor stir when she appeared onstage at the CMAs alongside the Dixie Chicks to deliver a rousing rendition of “Daddy Lessons.”
At the time, country artists like Blake Shelton and Dierks Bentley defended Beyoncé against naysayers who claimed the Lemonade singer didn’t belong at the show. (Fans upset with the decision to include Beyoncé tweeted racist and inappropriate comments bemoaning the artist’s appearance.) “People that criticize can kiss my a–,” Shelton told Entertainment Tonight days prior to the awards show. “That’s what I say. I can’t believe people that don’t contribute to music that criticize music, it just blows my mind and Beyoncé — tell them to kiss that a–, is what I would do.”
Beyoncé’s other genre-bending songs received nominations in categories ranging from rock performance for “Don’t Hurt Yourself” (with Jack White) to rap/sung performance for “Freedom” (with Kendrick Lamar.) She received a total of nine nominations Tuesday, and her multi-genre nominations makes her the first artist to earn nominations in the rock, pop, R&B and rap categories in the same year. Additionally, Beyoncé nabbed a nod for the coveted Album of the Year award, where she is up against artists as far-ranging as Justin Bieber for Purpose, Adele for 25, Drake for Views and country artist Sturgill Simpson for A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. Her nine nominations makes her the most nominated female singer in Grammy history, with 62 nominations over the years.
Personally, I loved the Dixie Chicks-Beyonce collab, and their live CMA performance made me flat-out love the song. I wonder why the Grammys rejected it, hmmmmm??? Because it was VERY “country.” Incidentally, I’ve seen a few people bitching about Bey’s nominations in Rock categories for “Don’t Hurt Yourself.” You guys, “Don’t Hurt Yourself” is one of the best songs on Lemonade, and yes, it is a rock song. Jack White kills it on that song. It’s amazing.
Meanwhile, did you hear about Rihanna’s not-so-subtle shade for Beyonce? Rihanna “liked” some major Bey-Grammy shade on Instagram, then Rihanna had to comment that she did not intend to shade Bey at all. The whole thing was about “Rihanna should have gotten more Grammy nominations for her album,” although… once again, didn’t we always know it was going to be between Bey and Adele?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’ve also heard people complaining about her Rock nomination for Don’t Hurt Yourself. I’m also pretty sure the complainers haven’t listened to the song, because it’s clearly a rock song and a damn good one.
No one is doing what Beyonce is doing now. I’m not even a huge fan, but even I see that. People are still thinking inside their little small boxes. It’s a shame.
I read that the song wasn’t eligible for this year, but would be eligible next year.
I’m a Bey fan but I could actually understand why the country committee doesn’t want to put any pop artist who goes “country” in their category when there are legit country acts who get snubbed. They were mad when Lady Gaga got called country for playing an acoustic guitar and wearing a cowboy hat too. Lemonade definitely deserves to win AOTY because it’s an astounding work that is musically diverse but still cohesive in a sense. Not necessarily any song deserves to be nominated. “All Night” to me is far superior than “Daddy Lessons”
I think Daddy Lessons is much better and different, so far out the box. All Night is nothing special and no different than her other slow songs, it doesn’t stand out.
Really? I don’t dislike the song per se, but I feel like it contains a lot of country song stereotypical tropes in the lyrics?
The same could be said about the love song All Night or Formation which is definitely full of stereotypes.
But what I was talking about is that Daddy Lessons is different than the normal Bey love song or songs you would expect from her.
“when there are legit country acts who get snubbed”
What is “legit” country anymore? So much of it is soft-rock wannabes doing their bro-country and pop style love ballads. Country music lost its soul in the 90s. Classic country is such a craft of story telling and musicianship. Much of current country is overly polished and formulaic.
Ad let’s not forget at one point Taylor Swift was considered country.
Which is odd because Gaga’s “Joanne” has a pretty strong country tone overall. The singles have been more pop radio friendly, but songs like “Angel Down” and “Sinner’s Prayer” are very old school in sound. Spoken bluntly, most of the top songs on country radio right now doesn’t sound as traditionally country as some of the work on “Joanne.”
Rihanna *sigh. I want to believe her but she has a habit of this. She has “like” anti Beyonce posts before and either ignored the backlash or played it down. Iirc very recently she liked something about how her single was selling better than Formation. That was before Beyonce dropped the Lemonade visual album and the world went Beyonce mad. Anybody else, I would give the benefit of the doubt but Riri likes to play these bitchy games with other people too. Its just harder to get away with when she tries Beyonce.
Yeah she has liked such posts about Beyonce before.
I think she only bactracked and apologized this time because it got more attention than normal.
Please!! She’s got 9 nominations! What about all the other artists that were snubbed in favour of Beyonce? Same goes for Adele, who is becoming more overrated by the day.
But we have to understand that just because an artist from two types of genre perform together doesn’t make the song a country song. Rapper Nelly did a song that featured Tim McGraw on it but it didn’t make Nelly’s song a country song. Arianna Grande performed Bang Bang at the CMA’s with Little Big Town but that didn’t make it a country song.
I like the song Daddy Lesson, the only song from the album that I like. It has more of a Louisiana blues sound to it then country to me. Just because you throw the Dixie Chicks on it in a live performance doesn’t make it country. It would be a bit different if the Dixie Chicks were on the album with her but they are not. That being said I hope Bey sweeps the Grammys because I don’t want Adele to win. I don’t even like like Bey’s Lemonade Album and I’m not a huge fan of Bey but I can’t stand Adele.
1. If Louisiana Blues doesn’t get put into the Country category at the Grammy’s, which category does it get put into?
2. Just because an artist isn’t “country”, doesn’t mean she can’t write a country song.
3. You’re the first person I’ve heard say they don’t like any of the songs on Lemonade.
I’m then the second one. Don’t care for Beyonce’s music per se.
For Adele’s either in case you may ask.
“You’re the first person I’ve heard say they don’t like any of the songs on Lemonade.”
@Katie did you read my post. I said the only song I like is Daddy Lessons so how is that not liking any song on Lemonade.
But to answer your question I know a few people who didn’t like Bey’s Lemonade. I don’t think you know the same people I know. That being said I read other sites and some other people have said they didn’t like it.
“If Louisiana Blues doesn’t get put into the Country category at the Grammy’s, which category does it get put into?”
um, The Blues category. BB King was not considered country.
THIS. The song is very much a pop song with a bango/fiddle layered on top of it. I have always disliked the trend of “Let me make a song, throw some fiddle on top, perform it in Nashville and call myself country”. Looking at people like Steven Tyler, Gaga, and Beyonce. You can say this is a song with country influences without calling it country. Grammys got it right.
(Although to be fair, I don’t consider a lot of what is played on country radio to be country)
No shade to Bey-although not my cup of tea I think she is one of the most important artists out there and extremely talented. But this kind of trend is taking away from real country artists.
“Let me make a song, throw some fiddle on top, perform it in Nashville and call myself country”
Ummmm….that is EXACTLY what most “country” artists do now. Don’t tell me that Jason Alden doesn’t follow that same formula. I totally agree with your comment about country radio.
Perfect example Tiffany! I don’t think Aldean, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia line etc should be on country radio either. I want to hear more from Margo Price, Stoney Larue, Aaron Watson, Vince Gill. THOSE are the people that are making real country music.
As a RABID Dixie Chicks fan, I have several thoughts:
1. Could it be partly the ongoing backlash against the Chicks by Republicans for her spot on Dubya comments?
2. While I personally liked her dress, was it a little risque for the conservative crowd?
That said, I am really not surprised. The looks on some other artists’ faces were a little predictive. At the same time, I don’t necessarily think it is so terrible that she wasn’t nominated. Every year, other absolutely fantastic performances in all genres are overlooked. Just because it was Beyonce, there is an outcry. She doesn’t have to dominate everything. She is a phenomenal performer, but I am definitely starting to see signs of egotism.
I would say egotism because it says she had to submit the song in order for them to nominate it. I think Bey just wanted to be nominated in every category and break records. She got pop, she got rock, she got rap, she got R&B and she wanted to add country to the list. That is definitely ego along with a bit of entitlement.
I also thought it might have more to say about the Dixie Chicks than Beyonce.
There might be egotism there but it’s already too late seeing as She set the record with her multiple nominations across genres even without the Country nod.
You know what? I won’t even call it egotism. We would call it groundbreaking if it were a guy that achieved it. Nothing wrong with being ambitious and wanting recognition for your efforts.
Kanye tweeted that he won’t show up to the Grammys if they won’t promise to give him AOTY and the replies under the tweet were “GOAT”, “Dad” “Take note grammys” I shudder to think of the replies if rihanna or Beyoncé tweeted that.
Beyoncé can submit in any category she damn well pleases if it’s fitting. Michael Jackson won a Grammy for best rock performance for Beat It and the world didn’t stop
+1 Scar
Lord forbid a woman is ambitious and sets out to accomplish a new record. I’m proud of Bey!
It doesn’t matter if it’s a guy or not. I can’t stand Kanye and his music of late sucks. Everything is not sexism or if it was a guy. We can still call women out on BS just like we do with men. Feminism doesn’t mean that women will never criticism women.
However it’s not just Beyonce, it’s a collaboration with a legit country music act and the song is actually country. The award is going to the best country SONG not artist.
But they are not on the album with her, they just performed it with her. It was not a duet featured on Bey’s album. It was not a collaboration, just a live performance. Like I said Little Big Town performed Bang Bang with Ariana Grande at the CMA’s but that did not make Bang Bang a country song. Little Big Town is not on the studio recording just like the Dixie Chicks are not on the studio recording of Daddy Lessons. That doesn’t make it a country song.
And if you look at the just the song, while it is a good song, there WERE many better this year.
Puh-lease! Snubbed? Oh okay…. The nominations across multiple genres wasn’t enough? How can anyone even suggest that? Also, I don’t think she should have been nominated for any category other than pop. She is a pop artist (if you can even call it that). She’s doesn’t even play any instruments.
Beyoncé doesn’t usually work in the genre, and the Dixie Chicks are widely (if unfairly) despised due to their politics. There’s nothing surprising about this, and really, Beyoncé doesn’t need to be nominated for everything.
I love how Rihanna keeps her Beyoncé bashing on the low like chica knows there are people you just don’t try or shade openly. She only backtracked because of the backlash she got for it and people were calling her out for being bitter. She always does this. Remember that time she tweeted #FreePalestine and when the backlash came she claimed she didn’t even know what she tweeted.
She saw the lemon emoji, no way she didn’t. She has always been this shady towards Beyoncé. When Beyoncé’s 4 came out and was flopping by Beyoncé standards, she was all over twitter liking tweets that compare both of them and those that said Beyoncé was over. Meanwhile 4 opened with 310k something no Rihanna album has ever achieved.
Fast-foward to her Anti era which was basically a flop and she’s back to the even more subtle shade.
Say what you want about Beyoncé but that woman remains the classiest of her peers. She has never put a fan down on social media for any reason. She has never been caught tweet fighting with anyone like the Rihanna vs Teyana or Rihanna vs Karrueche thing. That woman’s child gets insulted everyday on social media and still not a peep from her in defense. But guess what, these antics of Rihanna’s is the reason she is praised for having a “great personality” while Beyoncé gets called dumb for minding her damn business.
Maybe they wanted to nominate other actual country artists, especially given Beyonce is nominated for 50 million other Grammys this year anyway. Then again, I’ve always thought she’s hugely overrated.
Maybe there were just better country songs which deserved the nominations more?..
Or maybe because it’s not a country song.
I loved that performance and watched it again just for the hell of it.
Blake Shelton’s comments actually made me like him a lot more. Divided America indeed.
Don’t Hurt Yourself is a great song. But it’s not a rock song, sorry. Neither is f.e. Disturbed’s The Sound of Silence. A rock band or a rock artists helping does not a rock song make, it takes more than that. But the Grammies have nominated cross-genres for ages. Rock is mostly pop and metal is rock, so I don’t really care if Beyonce is nominated for a rock song. Or if she were nominated for a country song.
Does she have to be nominated for everything? Maybe the people voting just decided their were better country songs this year. I remember when Lemonade came out Daddy Lessons was the song a lot of people could have done without.
Or maybe they didn’t want to reward a song that’s basically a remix. The song only has hints of country on the album.
She’s pretty blessed. You can’t have it all. I bet she’ll recover just fine.
While Beyonce is a very talented artist, she doesn’t deserve an award for everything she touches just because she’s Beyonce. She is not everyone’s cup of sweet tea. There are so many really great country songs…hers is honestly just okay. Artists are free to perform whatever genre they want but it is kind of aggravating to many when an outsider jumps on the country music bandwagon for the hell of it and then expects an award. Can you imagine the outcry from legit rap artists if Miranda Lambert recorded a rap song and then won a Grammy for it?
If it was the best song why not
Blake Shelton is an arrogant arse. I don’t really care about the Beyoncé country controversy, as whatever the judges decide doesn’t affect my life in the least. However, for Shelton to say that those who “don’t contribute to music” can’t criticize music, is crap. We’re the ones who buy his music and afford him the chance to live the lifestyle he lives. I have every right to criticize what he and all other artists are putting out there, since they’re effectively asking me to buy what they’re selling. What a self-important jerk.
“Justin Timberlake (hahaha, his stupid/awful “Can’t Stop the Feeling” didn’t get nominated in any major category) ”
Thank you Jesus!