The 50th Country Music Association Awards aired this past Wednesday night and, among the traditional awarding and performing of country music artists, the most unforgettable moment of the night was when Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks teamed up to perform a version of "Daddy Lessons," a country song from Beyoncé's latest album "Lemonade" which explores a number of different genres.
Not only was it awesome to see one of my favorite artists perform a song of hers that is country at an awards show for country music, but also because she chose to team up with fellow Texans, the Dixie Chicks.
The Dixie Chicks infamously stood up against then President Bush and his decision to invade Iraq which led to backlash from some of their own fans, political figures, and other country artists.
In many ways, the Dixie Chicks could be considered martyrs of music who unknowingly sparked a conversation about whether or not musicians should speak on politics and also further exposed the sexism facing female country artists and female musicians in general.
Now, in 2016, it feels odd to look back and see all of what they went through for speaking their mind, especially now as musicians, specifically pop artists, have come to the forefront of politics to share their thoughts and feelings. Beyoncé is a prime example; she has shown support for Barack Obama as well as the Black Lives Matter movement and she promoted Equality NC and their efforts to combat the discriminatory anti-LGBT House Bill 2.
And so, while the team-up was unexpected, it makes a lot of sense and the performance itself went over very well, but I feel that both Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks deserve apologies.
But, it is not the Country Music Awards show itself that deserves to give them an apology.
Many people pointed out that the performance went undiscussed across all of the social media platforms of the CMAs leading the awards show to issue a statement saying that the performance was "a highlight of the evening," but they had previously removed a post related to the performance because it had not been approved yet by Beyoncé.
That statement did not win everyone over, but, even though I do feel like they could have responded a little better, I do believe them.
Instead, country music and all of its artists, especially the men, owe an apology to Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks.
I was able to turn a blind eye to the audience who were obviously split on the performance, feeling either really into the performance or not into the performance at all. After all, it was about the performance itself and not the reaction.
But I felt uncomfortable and uneasy seeing white male after white male look unenthusiastic and bored, not even feeling the need to give a fake smile for the cameras.
I can understand that it is Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks on stage, they are performing a Beyoncé song, and, thus, the performance is odd and not a run of the mill, traditional performance at the Country Music Awards. That, however, is what makes it great; we got a duet from two great acts who both have large catalogs that span multiple genres.
And, on top of all of that, the song they chose to perform was undoubtedly a celebration of country music and the very lifestyle that country music promotes. It also was a perfect example of an artist (Beyoncé here) paying homage to a music genre that they may not normally make music in but still has influenced them and the music they make in some way.
