@seawulf575 I agree with that. If people don’t like the songs or how she does the songs then that is a different issue than just expecting an artist to stay in their lane.
I think when a singer or band crosses over into another genre they sometimes bring part of their fan base over, and from what I understand that has been happening. That could be a good thing for country music.
Maybe the much to do about nothing is because she’s Black or because her music tends to attract a Black audience, but it certainly has a large white fan base too. I have always thought Beyonce was great, I am a big fan.
There aren’t many Black country singers, especially not part of the elite very well known country singers. The Black country singers I can think of also transitioned to country and didn’t really start there.
Country music generally has white, straight, Christian, singers, and an assumption they are politically conservative, but many of them are Democrats. They keep their LGBT status a secret, or stay quiet on politics, or come out at a risk. Most entertainers keep that sort of thing quiet, not just country music, but remember the backlash to Dixie Chicks for commenting about Pres. Bush and Lady Antebellum has had some trouble too regarding differing politics with a large part of their fan.
Beyonce should have left out Jolene. It’s so iconic and so wonderful in its original version. One of my favorite bands where I live sings it, and they do a pretty good job.
Edit: note that Dolly herself has done duets of Jolene and sometimes the tempo or harmonizing is slightly different when she does.