Lily Allen's Comments About Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Era Have Not Gone Down Well

The Smile singer has recently been working on new music of her own in... Nashville.
Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Dave Benett via Getty Images

Lily Allen’s assessment of the latest Beyoncé album have not exactly been well-received by the Texas Hold ’Em singer’s fanbase.

During the latest episode of Miss Me?, the BBC podcast she co-presents with her friend Miquita Oliver, Lily shared her verdict on Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s eighth album, which was released last week.

It’s very weird that [she covered] the most successful songs in that genre,” referencing the fact that Bey put her own spin on Dolly Parton’s Jolene on her latest release.

Miquita then opined: “I feel like Beyoncé could have done a little bit more with it, or maybe picked something that was a little less bait to cover.”

“I just feel like it’s quite an interesting thing to do when you’re, like, trying to tackle a new genre, and you just choose the biggest song in that genre to cover,” Lily agreed.

“I mean, you do you, Beyoncé, and she literally is doing her – or is she doing Dolly?”

Beyoncé on stage last year
Beyoncé on stage last year
Kevin Mazur via Getty Images

Lily then said she felt that Bey’s musical transition for her Cowboy Carter era was “quite calculated” and “intentional”.

Fans have been sharing their own takes in response to Lily and Miquita’s commentary, with many pointing out that Dolly herself had been calling for Beyoncé to cover Jolene for many years.

Others also pointed out that Lily has tried her hand at country music in the past, both on the It’s Not Me It’s You single Not Fair and on her upcoming fifth album, which she’s currently working on in Nashville.

Hi @lilyallen,

To answer your question of why Beyonce would cover Jolene, here is Dolly in 2022. https://t.co/gJNseJ55CE pic.twitter.com/FPYrsYXcyL

— Mikelle Street (@MikelleStreet) April 5, 2024

lily allen is a british lady who thinks she has more authority over the country music genre than beyonce … a texan ??? you cant make this stuff up mannn 😂

— kami 🧸 (@jkskami) April 5, 2024

dolly praised it so that’s what we care about!

— God is a woman (Sam) (@godisyung) April 5, 2024

The funniest part about this is that Dolly has been saying on record how much she wants Beyoncé to cover it. It honestly, probably wouldn’t have even happened if it weren’t for dolly saying it so many times publicly. https://t.co/94VVCcui2k

— raymond (@raymondmiguel_) April 5, 2024

#CowboyCarter is thoughtful & unprecedented
Beyoncé worked 5 years on this album, collaborated with & got acclaim from many music legends, recorded 100 songs & selected 27 for release…of course it’s “calculated” 💁🏻♀️
It’s weird to ask Lily Allen’s opinion on American country music https://t.co/KgpSnBwGAO

— 𝔪 (@Mad_Houri) April 5, 2024

I love lily allen but Beyoncé’s Jolene is cool and modern. I don’t see a problem

— Ordinary (@ordinarydream11) April 5, 2024

I’m begging this celebrities to do a cursory amount of research before talking. Dolly has said in interviews she wanted Beyoncé to cover the song. Dolly is still credited as the sole writer of the song, something Elvis refused to do when he wanted to cover I Will Always Love You. https://t.co/dH9OnkvFt5

— Please Rita Book (@PleaseRitaBook) April 5, 2024

Mind you, this is her when she did country https://t.co/KTxf5s5gr2 pic.twitter.com/Ulae7osUNL

— Shakespeare once said ⬇️ (@ToBeyOrNawToBey) April 5, 2024

rihanna can cover tame impala, whitney can cover dolly, adele can cover bob dylan, john mayer can cover beyonce, lily allen herself covered kaiser chiefs and keane but beyonce isn’t allowed to cover anything? 😐 be fr

— 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖 🪽 (@aliciacarterxo) April 5, 2024

But when she tried to do Country it was okay, right? https://t.co/DoasvkitkT

— Shakespeare once said ⬇️ (@ToBeyOrNawToBey) April 4, 2024

It’s so funny when these people speak on behalf on Dolly Parton, when the woman herself called Beyoncé to do it and was credited as a sole writer of the new version. https://t.co/2JKnri6NTc

— leeYAncé (@workby9offpast5) April 4, 2024

The funny thing is Lily Allen is currently recording a country album… in Nashville https://t.co/kCr4dh7tae

— FLAMENCAL (@cal_erm) April 4, 2024

When Miquita pointed out that Lily was currently working on country music of her own, the Smile singer insisted: “But I’m not like, trying to conquer the country market. I’m here because I’ve loved country music and always have loved country music – not saying Beyoncé doesn’t – but I tell stories in my songs and quite a lot of country music does the same thing.

“I think it’s well-suited to what it is that I do.”

HuffPost UK has contacted Lily Allen’s reps for comment.

Dolly has already heaped praise on Beyoncé’s reinterpreted cover of Jolene, while Paul McCartney has been similarly complimentary about her reimagined version of The Beatles’ Blackbird, which appears early on in the album.

Beyoncé previously wrote on Instagram of Cowboy Carter: “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.

“But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. 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.”

She added: “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”

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