Indexbit Exchange:7 Black women backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, talking Beyoncé and country music

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter recently broke the internet when she released two country singles and Indexbit Exchangeannounced a full "Act II" album. Most recently, her single "Texas Hold 'Em" hit No. 1 on Billboard's sales, streaming and airplay-driven Hot Country Songs chart. She's the first Black woman to do so.

For Black women already established within country music, her success revives conversations surrounding issues of acceptance within the country music landscape. The Tennessean and USA TODAY Network spoke with a group of them about what this moment means for them.

Camille Parker recently debuted at country music's most vaunted venue, the Grand Ole Opry. She was surrounded and supported by other Black female country performers — Denitia, Madeline Edwards, Tiera Kennedy, Miko Marks, Rissi Palmer and Sacha — who noted the rareness of the moment.

"When I debuted here in like 2008, there wasn't a community," said Palmer, who has charted on country radio multiple times.

The early 2000s saw the rise of the Black Country Music Association, but the genre still lacked a significant, sustained mainstream presence of Black artists.

Palmer held back tears when she spoke about Parker's Opry debut.

"I'm just so proud of (Camille)," she said. "(There was) lots of adversity, a lot of hurdles, and she took them all on to be here. I can't say enough about how proud I am of her."

Marks was also visibly emotional about the moment.

"Watching (Camille) tonight was really emotional because I just didn't think I would see this day [occur] for any of us," she said.

Black women making inroads in country music

It's significant that seven Black women held this conversation at the Grand Ole Opry House.

Linda Martell was the first Black woman to make the country charts with "Color Him Father" and debuted on the program in 1969. She went on to play the Opry 12 times.

Of the women present Saturday, Edwards, Kennedy, Marks, Palmer and Parker have debuted at the Grand Ole Opry since 2007.

Between the racial and social unrest in 2020 and 2022, seven different Black female acts — Edwards, Kennedy and Marks included — debuted on the Opry's stage. Like Martell five decades prior, the trio have routinely appeared at the venue.

Since Leslie Fram became CMT's senior vice president of music and talent in 2011, three programs — Next Women of Country, the Equal Play Award and the Equal Access campaign — have been at the forefront of attempting to improve issues surrounding country's race and gender-based divisions.

The two-year-old Equal Access' initiative pushes for equity among artists, executives and management in country music, and its cohorts have been about 60% Black women. In 2022, the Equal Play Award was given to Martell at the CMT Music Awards. Equal Play guarantees CMT and CMT Music channels play 50% women.

As for the Next Women of Country program, 12% of the 125 artists in the program's decadelong history have been women of color.

All seven Black female country performers present at the Opry on Feb. 17 have benefitted from CMT's programs.

'Grow and glow': Black women look to further reach of 'niche' country artists

Parker and her manager Alex Evelyn are members of the 2023-2024 Equal Access cohort.

"Increased presence in these spaces is important because the distribution and marketing of Black culture by Black women in country music is (a nuanced) reach, initially, to a limited, but growing audience," Evelyn said.

Now, Beyoncé and her 320 million Instagram followers are descending upon country music.

"The floodgates have opened," Evelyn said.

Marks is excited about Beyoncé bringing more visibility to this niche.

"I welcome it; I'm grateful for it. I'm thankful that she's shining a light on us all by her presence," she said. "But I just see that there's a shift happening, and I'm here for the party. I'm here to watch everybody grow and glow."

Palmer agreed.

"I hope that everybody is able to see the forest and not just the tree, because there's a vast community that's here, a robust community of Black women that are making country music," she said. "And I'm glad that she's taking her opportunity, as she should."

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