Taylor Swift has contributed backing vocals to the track, “Bodyguard”, which features on Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, act ii Cowboy Carter.
On the latest album, Beyoncé took inspiration from films such as Five Fingers For Marseilles, Urban Cowboy, The Hateful Eight, and Killers of the Flower Moon, often having the films playing on a screen during the recording process. Alongside remakes of classics songs, “Blackbird” by The Beatles and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, she sought out some influential artists to help her create Cowboy Carter.
The musical alliance includes contributions from vocalists, musicians, and orators, including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Jon Batiste, Nile Rodgers, Gary Clark, Jr., Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Taylor Swift, whilst not openly named as a contributor is listed under the credits section of Spotify as providing backing vocals to “Bodyguard”.
Beyoncé ensconced herself with a stellar group of collaborators, including The-Dream, Pharrell, Ryan Tedder, Ryan Beatty, Swizz Beatz, Tyler Johnson, Dave Hamelin, and Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter to find the secret gems in each song. The process, sometimes years in the making, often meant combining pieces of different recordings. “This album took over five years,” she says. “It’s been really great to have the time and the grace to be able to take my time with it. I was initially going to put Cowboy Carter out first, but with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.”
TAYLOR SWIFT IS CREDITED AS BACKING VOCALS ON BEYONCE’S SONG BODYGUARD pic.twitter.com/kUZM9X61aN
— ren. (@allswifted) March 29, 2024
Cowboy Carter, executive produced by Beyoncé, is about genres, all of them, while deeply rooted in Country. It pays homage to the past, honoring musical pioneers in Country, Rock, Classical, and Opera. The album is a cornucopia of sounds that Beyoncé loves, and grew up listening to, between visits and eventually performances at the Houston Rodeo – Country, original Rhythm & Blues, Blues, Zydeco, and Black Folk.
“The joy of creating music is that there are no rules,” says Beyoncé. “The more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity. With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones. I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune. I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk. All the sounds were so organic and human, everyday things like the wind, snaps and even the sound of birds and chickens, the sounds of nature.”
