Country music legend Dolly Parton shared her thoughts on Beyoncé receiving zero CMA Awards nominations earlier this month for her acclaimed, chart-topping album "Cowboy Carter."
When asked about the snub during an interview with Variety, published on Tuesday, the "9 to 5" singer shared, "Well, you never know. There's so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can't really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that."
"It was a wonderful album. She can be very, very proud of, and I think everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good," Parton continued.
Parton said she did not think that Beyoncé was intentionally barred from nominations.
"I don't think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose. I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album," she said.
"Cowboy Carter," released March 29, spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, and helped her become the first Black woman to top that chart.
At the time of the nomination announcements earlier in September, CMA declined to comment on Beyoncé's lack of nominations. "Good Morning America" also reached out to a representative for Beyoncé for comment.
Earlier in the interview, Parton exalted the hitmaker's foray into country music, calling "Cowboy Carter" a "great album."
"She's a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base. It wasn't like she just appeared out of nowhere," she said.