Songfacts®:

• "Blackbiird," recorded by Beyoncé' for her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, is a unique take the classic Beatles number written by Paul McCartney. Given the album's embrace of country influences and its themes concerning race in American music history, the song was chosen pointedly.
  
  Beyoncé' chose to cover the song not just for its timeless melody, but for its inspiration: A group of nine black students, known as the Little Rock Nine, who faced discrimination after enrolling in an all-white high school in Arkansas back in 1957. The Civil Rights movement in general was also an influence.
• A key element of "Blackbiird" is the addition of four Black female country singers: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. Their harmonies create a five-part vocal performance reminiscent of early Destiny's Child. This collaboration highlights the under-representation of Black artists in country music.
• "Blackbird" originally carried a message of hope during the Civil Rights Movement. The emphasis on Beyoncé's version of the words "learn to fly" and "moment to arise" stresses the positive messaging of the original track. By featuring Black artists and keeping the original lyrics, Beyoncé subtly reinforces that message within the context of country music.
• The four women recorded their four parts together without Beyoncé in the studio. Despite knowing each other (some are even close friends!), they hadn't sung together before. The final product left them awestruck, as Reyna Roberts highlighted:
  
  "It's amazing just to hear the blend of all of our voices together and just how impactful it is - the fact that Beyoncé is lifting all of our voices simultaneously and taking it to the next level," she told Billboard. "I've been listening to it kind of nonstop, but it was definitely crazy to hear all of us together. It just sounded so beautiful, angelic and powerful."
• The four singers' collaboration extends beyond "Blackbiird." Kennedy, Spencer, and Roberts lend their voices to "Tyrant," another track on Cowboy Carter. Adell sings on the album's opening song, "Ameriican Requiem."
• Beyoncé used instrumental elements taken directly from the Beatles' original master recording of "Blackbird." Paul McCartney is listed as playing guitar on the song, as well as one of the producers. The reimagining earned his praise.
  
  "I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it," Macca said. "I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song."
• Cowboy Carter is the second part of Beyoncé's trilogy project that began with the release of Renaissance. The retitled "Blackbiird" (with two i's) aligns with the album's "Act II" theme, mirroring the connection to Renaissance.
• Beyoncé performed "Blackbiird" for the first time on Christmas 2024 when she was the halftime entertainment at the NFL game on her home turf of Houston for the game between the Texans and Ravens. Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts all flanked Beyoncé to sing their parts as they entered the stadium to the song. From there, she performed a compressed version of the Cowboy Carter album with guest appearances from Post Malone and Shaboozey, two of her other collaborators on the album.