Oklahoma country station plays Beyoncé’s new track after outcry from Beyhive
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on February 14, 2024
An Oklahoma country radio station’s initial decision to not play Beyoncé‘s new country single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” has changed thanks to her fans.
A fan named Justin took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday to share the response he received from his local station KYKC after requesting the song via email. “Hi — we do not play Beyonce on KYKC as we are a country music station,” he wrote, quoting their reply.
His tweet, which went viral, prompted Bey’s fans aka the Beyhive to call KYKC and make additional requests for the song. Hours later, the station posted a picture on Facebook of the song placed in a time slot in their schedule.
“Lots of calls coming in for Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em,” the post read. “It’s coming up in minutes.” In the comments, the station explained it originally “didn’t even have the song” and local listeners “did not really want us to play it.”
Roger Harris, the general manager of Southern Central Oklahoma Radio Enterprises, also addressed the initial failure to play Bey’s track. “We are a small market station. We’re not in a position to break an artist or help it that much, so it has to chart a little bit higher for us to add it,” he told The Tennessean. “But we love Beyoncé here. We play her on our [other top 40 and adult hits stations] but we’re not playing her on our country station yet because it just came out.”
“Texas Hold ‘Em” is one of two country tracks Bey dropped on Super Bowl Sunday. It will join “16 Carriages” on her upcoming album, Act II, which arrives March 29.
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