Washington, D.C.; May 30, 2025 — NPR Music celebrates Black Music Month 2025 with a month-long tribute honoring the anniversaries of landmark albums that have shaped the course of music and culture.

That cover featured background vocals from a group of young Black women in country, though on the album Beyoncé also duetted with country-friendly white stars like Cyrus and Post Malone.

Beyoncé, 43, became just the fourth Black woman to ever win album of the year and the first in more than a quarter of a century, following Lauryn Hill in 1999, Whitney Houston in 1994 and Natalie ...