Beyonce speaks out on not feeling welcomed in country music

Our GMA cover story, Beyonce counting down to her new album, Cowboy Carter, and sharing the moment that inspired her to enter the country genre. Janae Norman has some details for us. Good morning, Janae. Good morning, Robyn. She looks like Rodeo Queen B. Many believing that she's referring to the reaction to her 2016 performance of Daddy Lesson, a country-sounding song from her lemonade album that she performed with the chicks at the CMAs. It sparked backlash and talks of boycotting the show. Now, we're just nine days away from Cowboy Carter that the Houston native says ain't a country album, but a Beyonce album. Queen B reigning supreme, overnight debuting her new album cover for Cowboy Carter. Beyonce posting this pic online, writing, This album has been over five years in the making. It 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. Adding, The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. The 32-time Grammy-winning megastar says that experience pushed her to take a deeper dive into the history of country music, studying its archives. Adding, It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history. The roots of country music are not the stereotypical white cowboy image that it has become today. Those cowboys were also black. Those cowboys were also Mexican. Those cowboys were freedmen. They were slaves. They were people of different statuses of living, and those roots are what she's hoping to really explore. Cowboy Carter hasn't even dropped yet, but two singles, Texas Hold'em and 16 Carriages, are already heating up the country charts, making her the first black woman to reach number one. Beyoncé, writing, Act two is a result of challenging myself and taking time to bend and blend genres together. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist's race as it relates to releasing genres of music will be irrelevant. So there was even a country station that initially wouldn't play her new songs. I just spent time in Houston at the Houston Rodeo and in Nashville talking to artists like Bun B and Rhiannon Giddens, who plays the banjo on Texas Hold'em, about what they say is gatekeeping in country music, and they say that Beyoncé is now joining the efforts to break down those barriers that so many other artists have been working on for decades. Yeah, there have been many that have gone before her in breaking down those barriers. Absolutely right. How was Houston? How was the rodeo? I learned a lot about rodeo culture. There were a lot of lessons. I used to go to that a lot in college. It was great. I had no idea. I have never been someplace where there are so many different kinds of people all just enjoying that. That is the Houston rodeo. It was incredible. It was. Can I speak for us Houstonians? You're not welcome back. What is that? I just mean all of the culture. It was great. It was. I saw Patti LaBelle there. She kicked off her shoes at dinner. I saw everything. It was great. Everybody, all kinds of people there. It was really special to see. It's more than just a rodeo though. That's the thing. It's more than just a rodeo there. I've heard more about rodeo in the last 30 seconds. But it's more than a rodeo. It's performances. It's fantastic. I'm coming back, Houston. I'm coming back. Road trip. Oh, 100%. All right.