Whoopi Goldberg has defended Beyoncé’s wins at this year’s Grammys after the artist was criticised on a Fox News show.
Beyoncé won the Grammy for Best Country Album and Album Of The Year for ‘Cowboy Carter’, her eighth studio album. She beat other nominees including Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift.
Following the awards, conservative author Raymond Arroyo appeared on Fox News show The Ingraham Angle, hosted by Laura Ingraham, where he said that Beyoncé’s wins were a “ridiculous outcome that is nothing to do with the country audience or the country musicians”.
He continued: “The country artists are not really happy about this. I’m gonna put this in some context, Laura: Dolly Parton has 10 Grammys. Frank Sinatra had 11 Grammys. Beyoncé has 35. How is that possibly commensurate with that talent? I mean come on.”
Arroyo then remarked that Beyoncé’s awards success was because “everybody votes in every genre”, and that “Lady Gaga’s cat sitter votes for best reggae and best country albums”.
Speaking on US daytime show The View, Goldberg hit back at Arroyo, saying: “Sir, are you aware that you have to be in the music industry to be a Grammy voter? So, the cat sitter can’t just vote.”
Regarding the number of Beyoncé’s wins compared to other music legends, she said: “Are you aware that when the Grammys began in 1959, there were only 28 categories, now there are 94?
“The year that Frank Sinatra got six nominations despite having two No. 1 albums, he only won one Grammy that night for his album cover – not even for his singing, for the album cover. Listen, man. You can’t do that. She earned it.”
Goldberg continued: “You want to hold on to country music like white people didn’t also buy her country album. Come on, man! People voted for it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. Same with the Oscars. Sit down!”
Beyoncé went into Sunday’s (February 2) ceremony with 11 nominations. That took her total nods to 99, making her the most nominated artist in Grammy history. She also maintains the record for the most Grammy wins, now with 35.
Her wins also made history in that she is the first Black woman to win the Best Country Album award – and, despite so many nominations, this is the first time the iconic artist has won Album Of The Year.
Fellow Best Country Album nominee Kacey Musgraves went viral after the ceremony for her reaction to Beyoncé winning, with some fans thinking Musgraves didn’t look impressed to have been beaten by her. Musgraves’ team released a statement yesterday (February 4) shooting down the claims.
‘Cowboy Carter’ received a five-star review from NME, with Jenessa Williams writing: “Her eighth album is another exercise in reclamation and celebration. Doused in her signature blend of eclectic herbs and spices, ‘Cowboy Carter’ is not a straight country album – it also incorporates the blues, funk, folk, soul, opera and gritty southern rap.”
Details of Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ world tour were also announced recently, including a residency at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tickets for the US and UK/European shows will go on pre-sale on February 13 at 12pm local time through to February 13 at 10pm local time, and fans can sign up now until 8am local time on February 6 here. General tickets will go on sale on February 14 at midday local time in the US and UK/Europe and can be purchased here and here.