Beyoncé at the CMA Awards? The internet was set on fire after news broke the international superstar would be present at one of the most historic nights in country music. Beyoncé joined the Dixie Chicks for a performance of her country-inspired track “Daddy Lessons” intertwined with the country trio’s classic “Long Time Gone.”
While her presence at one of the biggest night’s in country was no doubt an attempt to boost ratings of the award ceremony, the onstage collaboration was direct inspiration from the Dixie Chicks’ summer tour where they frequently covered the pop icon’s countrified beat.
At a recent show in Dublin, Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines referred to Beyoncé’s most recent album, Lemonade, as a “masterpiece,” gushing that “If Jay Z did cheat on her, then it’s awesome that she wrote an entire album about it. Sounds like something I would do.”
In the middle of their performance of “Daddy Lessons,” the ladies broke down into a intermission of the trio’s 2002 hit “Long Time Gone.” While the lyrics of “Long Time Gone” fundamentally critique modern country musicians with lyrics such as “They sound tired, but they don’t Haggard/They’ve got music but they don’t have Cash,” the 40-second snippet from the song is speculated to be a nod to the fact they’ve been “a long time gone” from the establishment of country music.
The Dixie Chicks received their most recent CMA nomination almost a decade prior in 2007 and their 2006 album, Taking the Long Way, received no CMA recognition but managed to rank in five Grammy awards including “Album of the Year” and “Best Country Album.”
So what do you think of their performance? Watch the performance in the video below and let us know what you think in the comments!