Dixie Chicks Cover Beyoncé’s “Daddy Lessons” Live: Watch

Christina Lee | May 1, 2016 12:26 pm
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“What’s So Country About Beyoncé?” CMT asked last week. This was in response to “Daddy Lessons,” which had people thinking she was about to conquer country radio. (A few stations even played the song.) You could argue that it is more Americana than straightforward country, with its New Orleans brass and soulful vocals. But CMT’s “argument” boiled down to this: Since Beyoncé didn’t write the song with Nashville songwriters or cut it at a Tennessee studio, then no, it isn’t.

“If you ask me, this song is no more country than her “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” writer Alison Bonaguro said.

It’s hard to tell exactly why CMT had beef with this classification. But a recent — and faithful — cover of “Daddy Lessons,” done by none other than Dixie Chicks, should put that argument to rest. The country-pop superstars did this live at Manchester Arena last night (April 30), ahead of this summer’s North American reunion tour. While frontwoman Natalie Maines had trouble remembering the melody at first, it soon became all too easy to imagine Beyoncé and Dixie Chicks, together on stage.

CMT should also bear in mind that, while Dixie Chicks blended plenty of country subgenres in its music, the trio dominated the late ’90s and early ’00s while writing and/or co-writing its own material and hailing from Beyoncé’s home state: Texas.

Watch the Dixie Chicks cover Beyoncé’s “Daddy Lessons” below.

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