After all the back and forth, the beef, and the bluster, Charley Crockett and Gavin Adcock are getting on just fine.
The country music artists locked horns last year, when leading several singers in the scene made disparaging comments about Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album.
Adcock was one of those critics, sharing his thoughts on Bey’s country turn during a concert and going on to suggest that his own career had benefited from his controversial comments.
“I really don’t believe her album should be labeled as country music,” Adcock said soon after making his initial comments against Cowboy Carter. “It doesn’t sound country, it doesn’t feel country, and I just don’t think that people who have dedicated their whole lives to this genre and lifestyle should have to compete or watch that album just stay at the top just because she’s Beyoncé.” Adcock had another pop with a social post in July 2025, the same stretch in which he was named Billboard’s Country Rookie of the Month. “Thanks for the highest streaming week of my career,” he wrote.
Crockett came out swinging in Bey’s defense and her Grammy Award winning LP.
“Hey country folks. @beyonce ain’t the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of bro country. #1 country artist on earth listen’s to nothing but rap,” Crockett wrote in his lengthy Instagram message from August 2025. “Openly says he doesn’t really know any country music. Gotta respect his honesty. The machine points to a black woman who’s making a statement about marginalized people being removed from the conversation altogether, and somehow we all act like the entire pop industry didn’t just ambush roots music. These ‘country boys’ been *singing* over trap beats for years.”
He continued: “I don’t need to put down a black woman to advance my music,” Crockett. “That’s just embarrassing to the idea of America and I got no respect for it.”
Crockett and Adock have their differences, sure, but they’re apparently getting on just fine.
Adcock this week shared a picture of the two pair relaxing in a honky tonk, enjoying a cold one and a laugh. “We might not always see eye to eye but that don’t mean we can’t drop our pride and b—shit and be friends,” reads Adcock’s post, on which he tags Crockett.
The friendly photos aren’t the only evidence that Crockett and Adcock have been making amends. Last August, Adcock posted a video to Instagram in which he showed off a large bouquet of roses and a copy of Crockett’s latest album Dollar a Day, and delivered a backhanded compliment.
“Apparently last night Charley Crockett was supposed to play the venue that we’re playing tonight, but he didn’t sell enough tickets, so he had to move to a smaller venue down the street — but before he left he sent me 60 roses and a $3 vinyl, so shout-out to Charley Crockett,” Adcock said with a smile. “I appreciate ya, buddy.”
Despite the harsh words from some, Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter was a hit. The country-inspired collection galloped to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and in markets around the globe. Cowboy Carter also went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, making her the first Black woman to do so. At the 67th Grammy Awards, Bey collected album of the year, became just the fourth Black woman to ever win that category as a lead artist, and extended her lead as the most-awarded artist in Grammy history (35 wins).
This story originally appeared on Billboard
