And Beyoncé’s bold, brilliant new album “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” which dropped Friday, is no exception to those musical roots. Roxanne Jones CNNIt was from Africa that the banjo, the signature instrument of country music, arrived on our nation’s shores. For a brief time in the 1960s and 1970s, Black country music artists received some commercial success and recognition. And, though he’s in the Country Music Hall of Fame today, Bailey was never recognized for his countless contributions to the genre. And by this measure, I’d say Beyoncé’s second act, “Cowboy Carter,” is indeed classic country music.

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Persons: Roxanne Jones, Jones, ”, Cowboy Carter, Roxanne Jones CNN, There’d, Beyonce, Alice Randall, “, ” Randall, Linda Martell, Martell, Ray Charles ’, Charley Pride, DeFord Bailey, mistreating Bailey, ” Bailey, Bailey, Uncle Wilbur, Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, Bey Organizations: ESPN The Magazine, ESPN, New York Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN, NPR, Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame Locations: Africa, America, Texas, Beyoncé, Nashville , Tennessee