![THE BLACK COUNTRY LEGACY](https://cdn.magzter.com/1452683603/1710489077/articles/1tYqCiaDc1710501199674/THE-BLACK-COUNTRY-LEGACY.jpg)
ON MARCH 16, 1983, THE COUNTRY MUSIC Association (CMA) celebrated its 25th anniversary, and I was invited. Buddy Killen, the song publisher who pitched "Heartbreak Hotel" to
Elvis Presley, thought "the Black girl from Harvard" might just be the second coming of that hit's songwriter, Mae Boren Axton. He put me on the guest list and paid for the tickets.
It was a complicated night. The event was held at the DAR Constitution Hall, built by the Daughters of the American Revolution, an infamous venue whose management had refused to allow Black opera star Marian Anderson to perform on its stage in 1939. I took special pleasure in seeing guitarist and singer Charley Pride stride onto that stage-in a building named to honor the U.S. Constitution, but run to exclude Black artists-and stake his claim as part of that "We the People" that document claims to represent.
At one point in the ceremony, singer Roy Acuff announced that "country music is a family." Then he proclaimed Jimmie Rodgers "the father" of that family. But he did not mention Lil Hardin Armstrong, the pianist who played on Rodgers' hit "Blue Yodel No. 9." Acuff nodded to Will Rogers, the comedian, but shamelessly omitted DeFord Bailey, the Grand Ole Opry's first superstar.
My idea to name and spotlight the First Family of Black Country was conceived in that moment. It was nurtured in the silence of missing names. Quiet as it was being kept, country had Black founders. I knew it; Buddy Killen, who arrived in Nashville playing bass for a blackface comedy act on the Grand Ole Opry, knew it; Roy Acuff, who had played on stages with Bailey, Ray Charles, and Pride, knew it. And more than four decades later, Beyoncé knew it when she broke the internet on Super Bowl Sunday by surprise releasing two country songs and announcing an album, Act II, which has her devoted fans in the Beyhive buzzing about line-dancing into the summer of country.
This story is from the March 25, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 25, 2024 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![The World According to Biden](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/Wq2io9QoA1718348725727/crp_Joe-Biden-2024-US-presidential-election-President-Joe-Bidens-2024-campaign.jpg)
The World According to Biden
Inside the President’s efforts to sustain the American century
![Claudia Sheinbaum](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/wuw8QsueG1718358855619/crp_Claudia-Sheinbaum-President-Sheinbaum-Morena.jpg)
Claudia Sheinbaum
A first for Mexico
![The future is in Judge Merchan's hands](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/w_Oa9BkU41718354673115/crp_THE-FUTURE-IS-IN-JUDGE-MERCHANS-HANDS.jpg)
The future is in Judge Merchan's hands
Now that a jury has found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony charges, nearly everything about what happens next is up to Judge Juan Merchan.
![Guilty on All Counts](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/UXX4wND971718350139839/crp_Donald-Trump-Supreme-Court-of-the-United-States.jpg)
Guilty on All Counts
A historic verdict for Donald Trump
![As employers embrace Al, workers fret-and seek input](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/F8X4SrOYy1718358991000/AS-EMPLOYERS-EMBRACE-AL-WORKERS-FRETAND-SEEK-INPUT.jpg)
As employers embrace Al, workers fret-and seek input
THE SWEDISH BUY-NOW-PAY-LATER COMPANY KLARNA has become something of a poster child for the potential benefits of generative artificial intelligence.
![Afghan women defying the Taliban](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/AgC55cdmh1718358486173/AFGHAN-WOMEN-DEFYING-THE-TALIBAN.jpg)
Afghan women defying the Taliban
WHEN KABUL FELL TO THE TALIBAN, RETURNING Afghanistan to the fundamentalist group's control, women who did not flee faced a reality in which they could no longer be who they are: journalists deleted evidence of their work, artists destroyed their creations, and graduates set fire to their degrees.
![The way to a truly restful vacation](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/2Nr7M76Sl1718358358050/THE-WAY-TO-A-TRULY-RESTFUL-VACATION.jpg)
The way to a truly restful vacation
TRAVEL CAN DO WONDERS FOR YOUR well-being: expanding your mind, bonding you to loved ones, and connecting you with nature.
![SHARING GRIEF AMID WAR](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/JwjJYK0Vm1718358137705/SHARING-GRIEF-AMID-WAR.jpg)
SHARING GRIEF AMID WAR
Spring and early summer are difficult times for both Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli Jews move from Passover, the holiday of freedom, to Holocaust Memorial Day, to Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror, to the triumphant celebrations of Independence Day. The days pass with rituals intended to give us a shared meaning as a society and to inculcate and frame Israel's official narrative.
![WESTWARD HO, AGAIN](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/SUft1oXO-1718357849384/WESTWARD-HO-AGAIN.jpg)
WESTWARD HO, AGAIN
Kevin Costner's risky western epic, Horizon, celebrates the height of the genre without quite getting there itself
![DO LESS. IT'S GOOD FOR YOU](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/12427/1731966/w2kTh8qsh1718357529674/DO-LESS-ITS-GOOD-FOR-YOU.jpg)
DO LESS. IT'S GOOD FOR YOU
Unproductive moments can boost health and happiness