Johnathan Walker:'All these genres living in me': Origin stories of the women on Beyoncé's 'Blackbiird'

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter featured four Black country singers on Johnathan Walkerher cover of the Beatles' 1968 hit "Blackbird," and it instantly boosted their careers and the ongoing conversation surrounding Black artists, country music and its roots.

The four women — Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer — are based in Nashville, but their voices are now being heard all around the world. In the words of Kennedy, Beyoncé is "putting all of us on a platform that, you know, we can only dream of."

Of course, the singers had already made a name for themselves, which landed them on the track in the first place. Over the last few years, all of them have been deemed CMT Next Women of Country and completed big gigs from singing the national anthem at sporting events to gracing the cover of magazines.

Now, Beyoncé's feature has skyrocketed their social media followings, streams and influence. It's also put a spotlight on a sisterhood that reaches far beyond the circle of artists on "Blackbiird."

"We're here and we're starting to come together and we're starting to be ... a big force and a big voice," Adell says. And like I said, we've been here, we've been growing, we've been working and there was a key that was missing. But I think it just fit into that door and unlocked it."

Three of the women spoke to USA TODAY Network and The Tennessean about who they are and what first inspired their musical journeys.

Tanner Adell

In the last few years, Adell's country music has garnered many fans and streams with its unique sound. Her first viral moment came in the summer of 2022 with her song "Love You a Little Bit." In 2023 she released her single "Buckle Bunny," which virtually took the internet by storm. In the tune, she describes herself as "looking like Beyoncé with a lasso." Most recently, Adell released her single “Whiskey Blues” on Friday. 

"I grew up between two very polar opposite places," she says. "I think I had a really unique childhood. I was adopted as a baby. I have four siblings, and we're all adopted. And I grew up between Manhattan Beach, California, and Star Valley, Wyoming, which could literally not be like any more different."

Adell says this upbringing plays a major role in the artist she is today.

"I learned such different core values from both places that have created the woman that I'm turning into and growing into," she says. "And I think that might be the most important part of me is that I come from both worlds, and that's why my music sounds the way it does."

Reyna Roberts

Roberts released her album “Bad Girl Bible” in the fall. When reflecting on her journey she says, "my personal goal has always been to blend genres together and do something that’s unique and creative."

Her early childhood was a catalyst for that goal.

"I was born two months early, and my parents played all genres of music to help me basically not have developmental delays," she says. "So I was singing and I was humming before I was even speaking, and they played rock, country, R&B, trap, blues. They played all genres of music."

Her parents were in the U.S. Army, so Roberts was exposed to many different worlds growing up. Then during her high school years, her family settled in Alabama. She began playing the piano at age 8, and when she started writing music as a teenager, she fused everything together.

"So I was basically trying to figure out who I was as an artist, when I had so much music in me — all these genres living in me," she says. "At one point I realized a lot of the songs were country and I was like 'oh, I love this.' I love traditional country music, but I want to make it my own. I wanna make it 'Reyna' music so I call it country plus, which is like country plus hip-hop, pop and all the fun genres that I love."

 Tiera Kennedy

"From a young age, I've always loved music," Kennedy says. "And I remember in elementary school, actually, that was like my first memory of being on a stage. (I had) a 'Little Mermaid' solo — an Ariel solo — in elementary school. And that was the first time that I'd ever sang in front of anybody except for my parents."

When she became a teenager, Kennedy started taking music more seriously.

"When I got into high school was really when it started kicking into gear, and I realized that I could do this as a job," she says. "I just dove straight in."

The Alabama-born singer has been working hard to climb the country music ranks in Nashville, and her upcoming song "I Ain't a Cowgirl" (out April 26) describes her journey in Music City.

"I've had a lot of great moments in Nashville, and there's so many amazing people that have championed me and put me on a platform," she says. "But there have also been a lot of closed doors ... and so with this song, I hope that it just encourages people to not take no for an answer."

She thinks "Blackbiird" provides a similar message.

"I think about the little girls listening to music in their bedroom and wanting to do country music, and this moment I feel like they can dream of doing that and not have any doubts in their mind that they can," she says.

These artists, along with Spencer, recently cemented their sisterhood with matching "Blackbiird" tattoos to commemorate this experience together.

Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network's Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.