--- title: The History Behind Beyoncé's 'Chitlin' Circuit' Reference description: The tracklist for Beyoncé's new album refers to the chitlin circuit canonical: https://time.com/6961785/beyonce-cowboy-carter-rodeo-chitlin-circuit/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-03-28T21:36:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:22:50.409Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The History Behind Beyoncé's 'Chitlin' Circuit' Reference og:description: The tracklist for Beyoncé's new album refers to the chitlin circuit og:url: https://time.com/6961785/beyonce-cowboy-carter-rodeo-chitlin-circuit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907e16df081c9c49/698a553a86f68e4b896f4f86/beyonce-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Celebrity Sightings In New York City - February 13, 2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The History Behind Beyoncé's 'Chitlin' Circuit' Reference twitter:description: The tracklist for Beyoncé's new album refers to the chitlin circuit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907e16df081c9c49/698a553a86f68e4b896f4f86/beyonce-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The History Behind the Chitlin' Circuit Reference on Beyoncé's _Cowboy Carter_ Tracklist  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 28, 2024 9:36 PM UTC  Beyonce leaves the Luar fashion show at 154 Scott in Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week on February 13, 2024 in New York City. Beyonce leaves the Luar fashion show at 154 Scott in Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week on February 13, 2024 in New York City.GC Images—2024 James Devaney  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 28, 2024 9:36 PM UTC Giddy up! [Beyoncé’s new album](https://time.com/6319531/beyonce-renaissance-concert-film/) is out March 29, and the Grammy Award-winning artist released on Instagram what appeared to be a tracklist on March 27 that includes a reference to the chitlin circuit, a network of venues where Black musicians could perform safely between the 1930s and the 1960s. The heading for the Instagram post is “Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit,” and it pays homage to the unsung and pioneering Black performers who came before her, who paved the way for rock ‘n’ roll. Chitlin circuit venues tended to be in areas of the segregated South where Black performers weren’t allowed, but it was anchored by theaters in the Midwest and Northeast with large Black populations like the Apollo in New York City, the Howard in Washington D.C., and the Regal in Chicago. As music journalist Preston Lauterbach [described](https://www.ajc.com/news/national/chitlin-circuit-black-performers-soulful-showcase-during-segregation/srbp9fswLEa3tsiOe5Z54M/) the importance of the network in his book _The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll_, “It was one of the few places that Black culture could be celebrated.” The word chitlin refers to a southern dish made of pig intestines. While they’re not a particularly desirable part of the animal, many popular artists performed in spots that served the meal; performers like Blues legend Bobby Rush even [claim](https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194760900/after-six-decades-blues-legend-bobby-rush-isnt-slowing-down) they got chitlins as payment. Some of the most desired Black entertainers to grace the chitlin circuit include Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, the Jackson 5, and Tina Turner. "The Chitlin' Circuit was African-Americans making something beautiful out of something ugly,” Lauterbach told [NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/16/275313723/the-origin-and-hot-stank-of-the-chitlin-circuit) in 2014, “whether it's making cuisine out of hog intestines or making world-class entertainment despite being excluded from all of the world-class venues, all of the fancy white clubs and all the first-rate white theaters.” Urban renewal projects of the 1960s and 1970s demolished many landmarks in Black communities, including stops on the chitlin circuit. A 1970 TIME magazine [article ](https://time.com/vault/issue/1970-04-06/page/1/)also pointed out that increased television viewership “helped kill off the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit" of black variety houses.” But Beyoncé’s callback to the chitlin circuit will ensure that this history will not be forgotten. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6961785/beyonce-cowboy-carter-rodeo-chitlin-circuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6961785/beyonce-cowboy-carter-rodeo-chitlin-circuit/"},"headline":"The History Behind the Chitlin' Circuit Reference on Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tracklist","datePublished":"2024-03-28T21:36:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:22:50.409Z","description":"The tracklist for Beyoncé's new album refers to the chitlin circuit","url":"https://time.com/6961785/beyonce-cowboy-carter-rodeo-chitlin-circuit/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907e16df081c9c49/698a553a86f68e4b896f4f86/beyonce-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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