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A few days ago, Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter, the follow-up to 2022’s Renaissance. Last month, she became the first Black woman to hit #1 on the Hot 100 chart with a country song. Tonight, the iconic singer is being honored at the iHeartRadio Music Awards with the Innovator Award.
At the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder presented the award to Beyoncé, and she thanked him for playing the harmonica on “Jolene.” “Innovation starts with a dream,” she said. “But then you have to execute that dream and that road can be very bumpy. Being an innovator is saying what everyone believes is impossible. Being an innovator often means being criticized, which often will test your mental strength.”
Before thanking her team and her family, she dedicated the award to other innovators, who she named as Rosetta Tharpe, Tracy Chapman, Linda Martell, Prince, Stevie Wonder, André 3000, Tina Turner, and Michael Jackson. Watch the speech below.
Meanwhile, Cher received the Icon Award, SZA won Song Of The Year, and Taylor Swift — who received the Innovator Award last year (but is not on Cowboy Carter) — won Artist Of The Year.
Cowboy Carter is currently the highest rated album of the year on Metacritic, though to experience the whole thing fans have check out the digital version; “Spaghettii,” “The Linda Martell Show,” “Ya Ya,” and “Oh Louisiana” are all missing from the vinyl and CD versions, and “Flamenco” is missing from the vinyl as well, possibly due to manufacturing deadlines. Variety also points to clues on the physical edition that suggest the album was originally titled Beyincé.