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The 10 Biggest Country Stories of the Year: Women Rule in the C-Suite, Coastal Labels Swarm, Post Malone, Beyoncé and More


The 10 biggest country music stories of 2024, featuring Beyoncé, Shaboozey and Morgan Wallen.

It also means that all the heads of the three Nashville majors have changed hands over the past two years, with Lacy and then Ben Kline replacing chairman/CEO John Esposito at Warner at the end of 2022, while UMGN chairman/CEO Mike Dungan left his post in 2023, with Mabe officially taking over April 1, 2023. Both Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter drew heavily on Nashville talent, with Post Malone duetting with Morgan Wallen (on Billboard ’s official Song of the Summer, “I Had Some Help”), Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll and others, while Beyoncé featured legends Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Linda Martell on her album, as well as young Black country upstarts including Shaboozey, Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Reyna Roberts and Tierra Kennedy. One of the few bright spots for women artists in the genre in 2024 remains Lainey Wilson, who became only the tenth act to capture the Academy of Country Music’s prestigious Triple Crown Award when she was named entertainer of the year in May.

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