Mickey Guyton talks new album 'House on Fire' and the state of country music
Mickey Guyton said she’s happy to see the mainstream shift as artists like Beyoncé and Shaboozey make strides in the predominantly white country music industry.
The nation is finally beginning to see that “country music is for everyone,” and Mickey Guyton loves it.
Guyton, 41, has been a trailblazer in country music for years: In 2021, she became the first Black woman to co-host the Academy of Country Music Awards and the first Black woman solo artist to be nominated for a Grammy in a country music category. Now, with artists like Beyoncé and Shaboozey making strides in the predominantly white industry, Guyton said she’s happy to see the mainstream shift.
“There’s a country music renaissance happening,” Guyton said in an interview, referring to her recent partnership with Anthropologie on a Western-themed pop-up in New York City.
“It’s infectious and everybody is wanting to be a part of it. It’s everybody’s music,” Guyton said. “Country music is a very universal music about life, and we’re all living, right? We all have different stories that nobody knows anything about, and people are finally writing about that and I think that’s really great.”
Guyton is one of the few country artists who have been vocal about Blackness and identity in their music; she released her poignant and popular track “Black Like Me” during the George Floyd protests of 2020.
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