Country Music Star Pauses Concert to Take a Shot at Beyoncé: ‘It Ain’t Country’

If you pay any attention to the country music scene at all, you’re aware of the constant controversy surrounding music star Beyoncé.

Typically a pop artist, Beyoncé caused quite a stir when she released her 2024 album, “Cowboy Carter,” as a nominally country album.

Fans, pundits, and fellow artists alike ferociously debated the country merits of “Cowboy Carter,” with a deep divide between those who now consider Beyoncé a country artist, and those who don’t.

Country star Gavin Adcock falls firmly into the latter category.

According to multiple reports, in the middle of a performance, Adcock took some time out of his set to rip into the country bona fides of Beyoncé.

Adcock, “who was nominated for new male artist of the year at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards,” according to Variety, took some time to lament the fact that “Cowboy Carter” was dominating the “country” album charts.

“One of them’s Beyoncé, you can tell her we’re coming for her f***ing a**,” he said. “That s*** ain’t country music, and it ain’t ever been country music, and it ain’t gonna be country music.”

The crowd roared in approval (social media comments were a bit more mixed, with some calling Adcock a bigot) at that jab.

Adcock doubled down on that sentiment with a personal video on X.

WARNING: The following clip contains language that some viewers will find offensive

It ain’t country pic.twitter.com/kSpqWCe5yA

— Gavin Adcock Music (@GavinAdcock) June 30, 2025

“It ain’t country,” Adcock’s caption read.

“I’mma go ahead and clear this up,” he said in the video. “When I was a little kid, my mama was blasting some Beyoncé in the car. I’ve heard a ton of Beyoncé songs and I actually remember her Super Bowl Halftime Show being pretty kick-a** back in the day.

“But I really don’t believe her album should be labeled as country music.

“It doesn’t sound country, it doesn’t feel country, and I just don’t think that people that have dedicated their whole lives to this genre and this lifestyle should have to compete or watch that album just stay at the top just because she’s Beyoncé.”

This is hardly the first time that Beyoncé has found herself in some country controversy.

Country star Luke Bryan kicked a bit of hornet’s nest in late 2024 when he offered a light criticism of “Cowboy Carter” and Beyoncé.

“But where things get a little tricky … if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit,” Bryan said at the time.

He added: “She’s probably the biggest star in music. But come to an award show and high five us. And have fun and get in the family, too.”

Bryan’s remarks came in light of the Country Music Award controversy, which saw “Cowboy Carter” withheld from any nominations.

Beyoncé fans were livid over these sorts of perceived snubs and claimed that “racism” was to blame, while others echoed the criticism proffered by Adcock.

Regardless of where you stand on Beyoncé’s “country” status, it’s clear that this debate is not going away anytime soon.

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