Beyoncé is officially back on the road with her Cowboy Carter tour, which launched last week in Los Angeles to support her genre-blending, country-inspired album of the same name. The tour has been highly anticipated since the album’s release last year and even more so after the pop icon swept up at the 2025 Grammys.
Cowboy Carter earned Beyoncé 11 nominations, including the ground breaking Best Country Album and the coveted Album of the Year. She took home both, as well as Best Country Duo/Group Performance for her hit collaboration with Miley Cyrus, II Most Wanted. That haul pushed Beyoncé’s Grammy total to 35 the most of any artist in history.
Still, the lead-up to the tour wasn’t without its bumps. Fans who shelled out hundreds for early tickets weren’t thrilled to see resale prices plummet to $20-$30 just days before opening night at SoFi Stadium. Rumours swirled online that Beyoncé was struggling to sell out shows, but the energy in LA told a different story, with fans turning out in full Cowboy Carter glam for the kick off.
But just days into the tour, Beyoncé’s team found themselves in hot water over a short video shown during the show. The visual featured a towering Beyoncé walking down the Las Vegas Strip and plucking the Vegas Sphere from the skyline, a moment fans thought might hint at a residency.
Sphere Entertainment Group, owners of the iconic venue, issued a cease and desist, stating:
“It has recently come to SEG’s attention that a Cowboy Carter tour interlude video contains the unauthorized use of SEG’s intellectual property,” it reads “SEG is sure that multiple aspects of the interlude video, including other brands, clips and music, were duly cleared by the tour with rights permissions from the rights holders whose works were used in the video, as is common practice. SEG, however, was never asked, and the prominent appearance and manipulation of SEG’s Sphere venue in the video is unauthorized.”
By the May 4 SoFi Stadium show, the visual had already been updated to feature Allegiant Stadium instead, where Beyoncé will wrap the tour in July.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
