After Beyoncé failed to secure any CMA Awards nominations for her 2024 country album, Cowboy Carter, several stars have offered their perspectives on the snub.
But for Kelly Clarkson, Bey’s story is a particularly familiar one. The genre-inclusive pop star has dabbled in country music several times before. She’s even gotten some attention of her own at CMAs past, earning nominations for Female Vocalist of the Year at the awards show in 2012 and 2013, and winning Musical Event of the Year in 2011 for her hit duet with Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”
Despite that success, Clarkson says she faced an uphill battle when it came to country radio airplay.
“That’s a hard industry, even for me,” she admits in a new interview with NBC10 Boston, while she was there to promote the new season of her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Related: The Full 2024 CMA Awards Nominees List
“I was told at a lunch that if I didn’t quit pop music and just go country, I would not be played,” Clarkson goes on to say. “I was literally told that to my face at a lunch. And I was like, ‘Okay, no offense, but I’m not ever gonna just pick one.'”
Clarkson noted that she and Beyoncé both hail from Texas, and both of them grew up with a heavy country influence. Still, she speculated that Beyoncé — like Clarkson herself — would never just commit fully to one genre at the exclusion of every other.
“I don’t think people like me, or even Beyoncé, are capable of doing that. It’s not even a desire or a want, it’s just like, we love dabbling. Why limit yourself?” she wonders.
Even given her history with country music, Clarkson admitted that it was “fascinating” that Beyoncé was left off the CMAs nominees list in 2024, commenting, “I feel like those songs were everywhere.”
Ultimately, though, she underscores that awards show recognition is only a portion of an artist’s metric for album success.
“I’ve always kind of learned in this industry, it’s not necessarily about the awards,” Clarkson goes on to say, referencing Beyoncé specifically as she adds, “…People are showing up, right? You’re massive.”
The 2024 CMA Awards will air on Nov. 20 on ABC.
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Country music fans should be a little angry today. Nominees for the 2024 CMA Awards were announced, and missing are several of the genre’s top stars, including two who’ve anchored the format for nearly 20 years.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes