Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em" reaches No. 1 in both U.S. and U.K.
Beyoncé's much-discussed country single "Texas Hold 'Em" hit No. 1 in both the U.S. and U.K. this week, the first time she's had a simultaneous chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic since 2003.
Beyoncé scored her ninth No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard announced Monday, one week after she became the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs.
At the same time, "Texas Hold 'Em" became her first No. 1 hit in the U.K. since "Telephone," her 2010 duet with Lady Gaga — it was her sixth song to top the U.K. charts overall, Billboard reported.
The surge of discussion (and controversy) surrounding Beyoncé's foray into country music likely helped boost sales and streams. Last week, country legend Dolly Parton wrote on social media that she's a "big fan" of Beyoncé and "very excited that she's done a country album."
Upon the single's release, in the middle of the 2024 Super Bowl, KYKC-FM, a country radio radio station in Oklahoma, initially declined to play the artist. The station manager later told CBS News he hadn't known Beyoncé had released new country songs and confirmed he had added "Texas Hold 'Em" to the station's playlist.
Beyoncé's first No. 1 hit in the U.S. was "Bills, Bills, Bills" with the girl group Destiny's Child, which peaked atop the chart in 1999, according to Billboard. Her first solo No. 1 was her smash hit "Crazy In Love," which topped the charts for 8 weeks beginning in July 2003, nearly 21 years ago.
With her latest hit, Beyoncé landed on Billboard's list of the top 10 artists with the longest spans between first and most recent No. 1 hits — at No. 9, below Rod Stewart and above Aretha Franklin. (The longest spanner of all time is Brenda Lee, whose Christmas single "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" hit number one in 1960 and then again in 2024.)
"Texas Hold 'Em" makes Beyoncé only one of two artists (along with Mariah Carey) to have hit the top of the Hot 100 in four distinct decades — the 90s, 00s, 10s, and 20s — according to Billboard.
The song also makes for Beyoncé having the seventh most weeks spent at the top of the charts, with 45 weeks in total, Billboard reported. Mariah Carey holds the record, with 93 weeks, followed by Rihanna, The Beatles, Drake, Boyz II Men and Usher. Michael Jackson is eighth while Adele, Elton John, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift are tied in ninth place, with 34 weeks.