Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tour Setlist: Every Song From the First Show
'Five Nights of Beyoncé!' That was the tagline trumpeted across television and radio throughout Los Angeles ahead of the Monday night (April 28) kick-off for the 35-time Grammy winner's highly anticipated Cowboy Carter Tour at SoFi Stadium in neighboring Inglewood, Calif.
More from Billboard
Yeat Sets 2025 Australian Dates for The Bell Down Under Tour
Ye Releases 'Donda 2' Album to Streaming Services for First Time
Fugazi Are Bringing Their Extensive Live Series to Streaming
The 32-market stadium tour — across nine cities in the U.S. and Europe — borrows its name from Beyoncé's eighth studio album. Released in March 2024, the country-themed project is the second act in a three-album arc that launched with Act 1: Renaissance in 2022. Featuring a mix of R&B, folk, blues and Americana, Cowboy Carter presented guest turns and cameos by country legends Dolly Parton, Linda Martell and Willie Nelson, contemporary stars Miley Cyrus and Post Malone, and emerging Black country artists such as Shaboozey, Tanner Adell and Brittney Spencer. (Not to mention a cast of stellar musicians from Stevie Wonder and Nile Rodgers to Jon Batiste, Gary Clark Jr. and Rhiannon Giddens.)
Powered by hits and fan faves like 'Texas Hold 'Em' (her ninth Billboard Hot 100 No. 1), covers of Parton's 'Jolene' and the Beatles' 'Blackbird' plus 'Levii's Jeans (with Malone) and 'Ya Ya,' Cowboy Carter garnered a leading 11 nominations for the 67th Grammy Awards. The album ultimately won three gold gramophones: best country duo/group performance for 'II Most Wanted' (with Cyrus), best country album (the first Black artist to claim that honor) and album of the year — an honor that had long eluded Beyoncé, making her the first Black female to win that marquee category since Ms. Lauryn Hill in 1999.
Beyoncé last visited SoFi Stadium when she brought her Renaissance World Tour to the venue. She played three sold-out nights at the venue in September 2023, highlights of which included a surprise appearance by Diana Ross who led the audience in singing 'Happy Birthday' to Beyoncé.
On Christmas Day last year, Beyoncé gave fans a glimpse of what might be in store for the Cowboy Carter Tour when she performed several tracks with special guests like Post Malone, Shaboozey and daughter Blue Ivy for the halftime show during the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans football game at Houston's NRG Stadium.
Here's a look at Beyoncé's opening night setlist for the Cowboy Carter Tour.
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
The American national anthem (lyrics 1814; adopted 1931)
Album: Lemonade (2016)
'YA YA'; Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
'Why Don't You Love Me'; Album: I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Lemonade (2016)
Single to promote Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (2023)
Album: I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
'SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN''; Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
'Summer Renaissance' & 'Pure/Honey'; Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Lemonade (2016)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Dangerously in Love (2003)
Album: Renaissance (2022)
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly cover (1981)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Album: Cowboy Carter (2024)
Best of Billboard
Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1
Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Jelly Roll Shares A Grateful Spirit As He Headlines Music City Rodeo Show
With the hometown crowd fired up and ready to go, Jelly Roll hit the stage that had just been lowered from the ceiling a short time ago. With rodeo dust still in the air, the stage now covered part of the thick dirt floor, where cowboys had wrapped up competition on Day 2 of the Music City Rodeo, less than an hour ago. He kicked things off with his song 'Heart of Stone.' Jelly, who is currently on tour with Post Malone, did a show in Pittsburgh the night before. He'd flown into Nashville at around 2am that morning. He was clearly happy to be back in town. 'Aww, Nashville,' he said in a booming voice. 'There's no place like home! I've traveled the world, been across the United States, and there's no place like home!' The Nashville-native's warm references to home would set the tone for the next hour-and-a-half where he sang his hits but also stopped several times to talk directly with the audience, often getting emotional. He wanted to express his gratitude, and perhaps a little bit of awe, over his spectacular rise to fame as a country music superstar over the past three years. Throughout the show, he touched on different aspects of his life and journey, when circumstances indicated none of what he's accomplished might be remotely possible. From the days of sneaking into bars as a teenager and selling his mixed tapes on Lower Broadway – to the negative life choices that would later land him in jail. His appearance tonight had special meaning. It marked his third time playing the Bridgestone Arena. He admits four or five years ago, he couldn't imagine playing in much smaller venues. But three years ago, with just two hit songs to his name, the powers that be took a risk on Jelly Roll and booked him here. 'I would have never guessed that hometown show was going to launch me to play 80 arenas across the United States of America and have one of the biggest shows of last year. I never thought a kid from Antioch, Tennessee, was going to end up on tour with Post Malone and selling out stadiums across the world!' The crowd roared with applause. 'I want y'all to know I'd never take this for granted, what ya'll have done for me in this city, and how y'all have changed my life.' He noted how special it was to play this particular show, as Nashville hosts its first-ever professional rodeo. Reba McEntire headlined the first night, Jelly Roll the second, with Tim McGraw capping things for night three. 'I'm honored to be here tonight, but I want to be clear, this not a Jelly Roll show. This is the first Music City Rodeo, and they let Jelly Roll do a show. I'm just here to support the cowboys, and I want to thank the cowboys that stuck around to support me.' Backed by his spectacular band, he rocked the house with familiar songs like 'Get By,' 'Liar,' 'Lonely Road (Country Roads),' 'I Am Not Okay,' 'Need A Favor,' 'Save Me,' and more. He also did covers of Toby Keith's 'Should've Been A Cowboy,' and Garth Brooks' 'I Got Friends In Low Places.' And between songs, he continued sharing his thanks, as well as his faith. 'I'll be honest, coming from where I came from, I didn't think I was going to live to be 30 years old, and if I did, I assumed I'd be in prison, spending the rest of my life there. But God had a different plan for me. And it's by God's grace and God's grace alone I am here tonight!' He hopes sharing his story will inspire others. 'I know it sounds cliché' but I'm a human example that not only do dreams come true, but bad people can be good people. I come here with a message of love, hope, healing, self-belief, second chances, redemption, God's grace, and testimony of the most high. If you believe in change and you're willing to work for that change, then God'll get in the middle of it and it'll change, baby!' In a world where so many of Jelly's dreams have come true, he decided to step out, and share another. 'I want to be the first act to play Nissan Stadium when it opens in the Spring of 2027, y'all. Please let the local boy open up the new stadium. Sorry, I know that's crazy, but I've got to speak it into existence. I believe it.' Jelly Roll has proven - believing is key. As the show drew to a close, he remarked on the power of music to heal broken hearts and serve as medicine or therapeutic. 'I believe music says what the soul cannot say.' He's grateful so many of his own songs written because they said what 'he' needed to hear, are now resonating others. He reminded the crowd for anyone struggling to keep in mind, 'It might not always be okay, but I can promise you, it's always alright.' He wrapped things up with his song 'I Am Not Okay,' which says exactly that. Right after his Music City Rodeo show, Jelly Roll thanked and bid Nashville farewell, for now. He headed off to board a plane to rejoin Post Malone on tour.
Axios
6 hours ago
- Axios
New book tackles the legend of Jim from Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn"
A new book unpacks Jim in Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" — a fictional enslaved Black man who is one of the most memorable characters in American Literature. Why it matters: For more than a century, Jim has been a source of sympathy, ridicule, anger, and protest due to the Black dialect he uses throughout the novel, but scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin says that he's been misunderstood. The big picture: " Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade," released last month by Yale University Press, comes out amid renewed interest in the Twain character. Percival Everett recently won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel, "James," which reimagines Jim from an illiterate enslaved man as often portrayed to a savvy and literate soul who has more agency. Fishkin tells Axios she wanted to explore how we've viewed Jim throughout the decades and how he has shaped American culture. The text in Twain's classic hasn't changed throughout the years, "but we've changed," said Fishkin, one of the world's top Twain scholars. Catch up quick: " The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" tells the story of Huck, a young, uneducated white boy, and Jim, an escaped slave, as they travel together down the Mississippi River on a raft. The pair must avoid mobs of slave hunters and robbers along their journey and develop a sense of care for one another. The book uses racist epithets of the time, and Jim speaks in a language that critics say today resembles offensive minstrel shows in the late 1800s — all of which have generated demands for the novel to be banned. Yes, but: Fishkin says Twain was being subversive in the use of Jim's dialect and criticizing all the racist stereotypes with a humanized portrayal. "Jim is the smartest character in the book. It's a mistake to assume he's there to be ridiculed. In fact, he becomes a father to Huck," says Fishkin, who wrote the 1993 literature critic classic, "Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and African American Voice." Fishkin says Jim is a complex character who is really the first Black father portrayed in American literature. Zoom in: In her new book, Fishkin takes on the historical myths and models of Black men in post-Civil War America. She then gives us a rundown of the debates of Jim and the novel's use of racist language that have generated pushback from liberals and conservatives. Fishkin then presents the reader with an innovative exercise in one chapter, exploring what Jim would say about everything in his own dialect. She ends with a lesson on how some high school teachers are presenting the book today and what lessons can be learned when the book "is taught correctly."
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Afro Mexican actors fighting racism celebrate their heritage through their plays
TICUMÁN, México (AP) — There was something about her body, but Mexican actress Eréndira Castorela couldn't quite put her finger on it. Some casting directors told her she was 'too tall' to play a Mexican woman. Others insinuated her features weren't sufficiently 'Indigenous.' 'It wasn't until later that I discovered what it means to recognize oneself as Afro,' said Castorela, who subsequently confirmed her African ancestry. 'We are a diverse community which, perhaps due to discrimination, doesn't identify as such.' Her life changed after she joined Mulato Teatro, a theater company that empowers actors of African descent who are eager to forge a career despite racism. However, like most Afro Mexican activists, Castorela believes that nationwide recognition is still a long way off. 'If we look around, we'll see curly hair, high cheekbones, full lips or dark skin,' the 33-year-old said. 'But there's a wound that prevents us from recognizing ourselves.' The Afro Mexican lineage Unlike the United States, where there have been concerted efforts to boost awareness of the Black history, acknowledging Black people in Mexico has received little support. 'The concept of mixed race denies the cultural diversity that defines us as Mexicans," said María Elisa Velázquez, a researcher at the National School of Anthropology and History. "We are not only Indigenous, but also European, African and Asian.' It is well known that the Mesoamerican lands conquered by the Spaniards in the 16th century were inhabited by Indigenous people, resulting in mixed-race marriages and births. Less noted is the fact that some mixed-race Mexicans are partly descended from enslaved Black people. According to Velázquez, the evolution of communities incorporating Black people depended on their geographic location. 'Much of the Afro-descendant population established relations and coexisted alongside different Indigenous groups, resulting in very heterogeneous communities,' she said. Official figures from 2024 estimate the Afro-descendant population in Mexico is 3.1 million, mainly residing in the states of Guerrero, Morelos, Colima and Quintana Roo. While most identify as African Mexican, nearly two-thirds also perceive themselves as Indigenous. Finding her true identity Castorela — born in Morelos, a state neighboring Mexico City — recalls looking through family photo albums after first wondering if she had African ancestry. The features of her relatives left no room for doubt. 'I also realized we had created a narrative that concealed our origins,' she said. 'There was always someone saying: 'But there was a blond person in the family,' or 'Grandma had finer features.'' Castorela may not have curly hair and her skin tone may not resemble that of other Afro women, but she said her body never lied. When she was a young actress taking ballet classes, she felt constrained and uncomfortable. It wasn't until she joined African dance classes that the choreography was ideal for her height, weight and soul. 'I feel much freer because there's openness and movement,' she said. 'Identifying as African Mexican has given me the mental and spiritual peace I needed to realize there is a place where I can reflect myself.' A struggling career The theater company where Castorela and two dozen other artists collaborate was founded in the early 2000s by another Afro woman who struggled to excel as a Black actress in Mexico. Born in Colombia, a South American country where around 10% of the population is Black, Marisol Castillo said she had no clue her physical features would hinder her career. But after falling in love with Mexican playwright Jaime Chabaud and moving to his hometown, everything changed. 'Some want to force us to fit a mold, a white mold,' Castillo said. 'And when we differ, we're told: 'You're a bad actor, you're out of tune.' But we're just different.' Casting directors mostly offered Castillo roles as prostitute, exotic dancer, maid or slave. So she teamed up with Chabaud, and 'Mulato Teatro' was born. 'There was very little openness and awareness,' Chabaud said. 'So I started writing plays for her.' Tales of African and Mexican heritage The themes of Chabaud's plays are as diverse as the actors who bring his characters to life. 'African Erotic Tales of the Black Decameron' draws inspiration from oral traditions, fusing the worldview of African communities. 'Yanga" portrays a real-life 17th-century Black hero who is considered a liberator in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Among the topics inspiring Chabaud are not only African legends or characters, but stories closer to home. 'Where are you going, Mr. Opossum?' tells the tale of a 'Tlacuache,' an ancient creature from Mesoamerican mythology. In Chabaud's play, the Tlacuache steals fire from a goddess to save humanity from hunger and darkness. The creature has no divine powers, but his ability to play dead enables him to sneak past the Jaguar, a deity safeguarding the flames. 'Jaime always tells us that we should all worship Mr. Tlacuache instead of other deities,' said Aldo Martin, playing the leading role. Martin, 28, does not identify as Afro, but feels the company's work successfully portrays Mexico's diversity. 'Our ancestors are not only Indigenous, but a fusion, and these mixed heritages have resulted in a very distinct society, made of all colors, which shouldn't pigeonhole us into just being Afro,' Martin said. Diversity is welcomed at Mulato Teatro Castillo and Chabaud primarily encourage Afro-Mexican artists to work in their plays, but they also welcome amateur actors and LGBTQ+ performers. One of them is transgender actress Annya Atanasio Cadena, who began her career in plays addressing topics such as suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction in marginalized communities. 'In my (LGBTQ+) community, we know what it's like to fight against the world,' said Atanasio, who plays a trans woman in one of Chabaud's plays about gender violence. 'I'm very moved to have been given the chance to become part of this space, which also heals me,' she added. "We can show that we exist and we are more than just a story. We are bodies, desires, feelings, and the pain we carry.' Dreams of an unknown land There's a special play written and directed by Castillo: 'Dreaming of Africa.' Although she has not been able to trace the exact roots of her ancestry, her work and community make her feel closer to a long-lost home. 'When we, people from the same ethnicity meet, we call each other 'brother,'' Castillo said. 'After all, we came from the same ports.' She said she'll never forget a presentation of 'Dreaming of Africa,' when a girl from the audience approached her. 'She could barely speak, so we hugged,' Castillo said. 'Then she said: 'Thank you for telling me I'm pretty, for making me feel my worth'.' Castillo, too, learns something about herself as she acts, writes and directs. It's like peeling an onion, she said, taking layer by layer to reveal what's underneath. 'I grow with each play,' Castillo said. "I feel prouder of my roots, knowing that I can move away from stereotypes like playing a prostitute or a witch. That I, too, can be a queen.' ____ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
