Learn English with "Texas Hold 'Em" by Beyoncé

"Texas Hold 'Em" arrived as a surprise on February 11, 2024, during Super Bowl LVIII, when a Verizon commercial cut to Beyoncé announcing new music. The song dropped that same night alongside a second track, "16 Carriages," instantly signaling that Beyoncé's next era was heading somewhere new: country.

That new era took full shape on March 29, 2024, with the release of Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé's eighth studio album and the second chapter of a planned trilogy that began with Renaissance in 2022. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and "Texas Hold 'Em" led the way as its lead single.

The song made chart history in its own right: it became Beyoncé's ninth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and, simultaneously, topped the Hot Country Songs chart — making her the first Black woman ever to reach number one on that country chart. It has since been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.

Behind the track is a small, close-knit writing team: Beyoncé wrote it with Canadian songwriters Nathan Ferraro, Elizabeth Boland (known as Lowell), and Megan Bülow. Production credits include Ferraro, Killah B, and Beyoncé herself, with additional production from Raphael Saadiq, Stuart White, Hit-Boy, and Mariel Gomerez. One of the most talked-about contributions came from Rhiannon Giddens, the Grammy-winning folk and roots musician who plays the rapid-plucked banjo and viola heard in the song's opening — a deliberate nod to the banjo's often-overlooked Black origins in American folk and country music.

At the 67th Grammy Awards in February 2025, "Texas Hold 'Em" picked up nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Country Song, though it didn't win in those categories. The album more than made up for it: Cowboy Carter won Album of the Year and Best Country Album, cementing Beyoncé's country pivot as one of the most decorated moments of her career.

For English learners, it's a fascinating pairing of accent and vocabulary: a Texan drawl riding over a poker-and-honky-tonk vocabulary that most pop songs never touch — a useful, very current contrast to the British and Australian voices elsewhere in this catalogue.

If you liked this, we recommend:

• Espresso — Sabrina Carpenter (American English, another huge 2024 hit, but pure pop instead of country)
• I Wanna Dance with Somebody — Whitney Houston (American English, a different era and genre of American dance music)
• Wannabe — Spice Girls (British English, for a strong accent contrast)
• Zombie — The Cranberries (Irish English, a completely different mood and accent)