CMA Awards EP on Why Beyoncé Is Always Invited
The CMA Awards are known for their creative, collaborative performances, and Robert Deaton — who has executive produced the show since 2007 — is responsible for a number of them.
He invited Ariana Grande to sing with Little Big Town, had Fall Out Boy rock out with Thomas Rhett and paired Beyoncé with The Chicks.
In an interview, he talks about why Beyoncé — who was heavily snubbed at the CMA Awards — is always welcomed to the show.
Beyoncé had one of the biggest country albums of the year with Cowboy Carter but was heavily snubbed. What are your thoughts on that?
I don’t ever comment on whether someone’s nominated or not, whether it’s Beyoncé or whether it’s Miranda Lambert, for example. Honestly, here’s the thing, I kind of look at myself as a football coach, it’s like, “What’s the team?” I’ve got to coach the team that I have. And now, is Beyoncé invited? Always, with open arms. Completely open arms. And by the way, I absolutely loved working with her. That was my idea seven years ago . I was in Los Angeles and I was prepping for the Billboard Music Awards and Beyoncé dropped that album (Lemonade). I didn’t know anybody in that camp. I got the publicist and the manager’s name and I sent an email, introduced myself, and I didn’t hear anything back until, I think, it was probably September. It was so funny because they answered the email like I had just sent the email the previous day. It was hilarious. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I had forgotten that I even sent the email.” And they were like, “Hey, we like this idea that you had. Let’s talk about it.”
We went through the whole thing and we got The Chicks involved, which was awesome, and it was great to have them back. I love that performance. I thought it was so fantastic, and she was so lovely. It was interesting though. The manager said, “Have you met Beyoncé yet?” And I’m like, “No. I was making sure that she’s not overwhelmed and getting her bearings.” And he’s like, “No, no, come up onstage.” So we went up there and I met her, and she was great, and she was so warm and nice. So, we were walking back to the producer’s table with the manager, and he goes, “OK, so here’s the thing. She knows you now.” I’m like, “OK.” He’s like, “So therefore you don’t have to go between anybody, you don’t have to ask me or anybody on her team. You got anything you want to do, change, anything that you want to talk creatively with her about, she knows you now, just go right up and talk to her.”
It was awesome. I can only tell you what I feel and what I have in my heart, OK? So, I’m watching the performance go down that night, I see all the cameras, I got 17 cameras, I got a big huge monitor backstage at my producer’s table. I’m looking at all the cutaways of everybody, and you should have seen Faith Hill’s face. It was awesome. And her performance was awesome. And I would say that, and they know this, I’ve talked to Beyoncé’s manager, I don’t know, I think three times since that album came out, and they know that they are always welcome. She is always welcome to come on this show. Again, let’s be inclusive. And I can only talk to what I can do. I can only talk to what I know that is in my heart. It’s always better when we’re inclusive. And I feel like we are just scratching the surface here.
When you say there’s always an invitation for Beyoncé, is that to attend or perform?
I told them way back in June, or before June, when the album came out. I said, “Hey, listen, I know that what y’all do is different,” and it should be, by the way, she’s Beyoncé. Because in the last few albums, she hasn’t done the typical , even with the pop stuff, she doesn’t do the typical promotion. It’s like, she’s Beyoncé, she doesn’t have to go do late-night television, you know what I’m saying? How she promotes her music is different. But I had a conversation with her manager, and said, “Look, I’m just letting you know, the arms are open wide for her, if she wants to perform, if she wants to attend. Whatever she would like to do, I want you to know that the welcome mat is at the front door.” So they know that. We had lovely conversations with her manager. I will say this — I had a wonderful time working with her, and again, I loved the performance. It was my idea to invite her in the first place. And let me tell you something, talk about work ethic. Woohie. That work ethic is next-level. I think they rehearsed for seven days in L.A. Like everybody. Full band. Dancing. Everything.
He invited Ariana Grande to sing with Little Big Town, had Fall Out Boy rock out with Thomas Rhett and paired Beyoncé with The Chicks.
In an interview, he talks about why Beyoncé — who was heavily snubbed at the CMA Awards — is always welcomed to the show.
Beyoncé had one of the biggest country albums of the year with Cowboy Carter but was heavily snubbed. What are your thoughts on that?
I don’t ever comment on whether someone’s nominated or not, whether it’s Beyoncé or whether it’s Miranda Lambert, for example. Honestly, here’s the thing, I kind of look at myself as a football coach, it’s like, “What’s the team?” I’ve got to coach the team that I have. And now, is Beyoncé invited? Always, with open arms. Completely open arms. And by the way, I absolutely loved working with her. That was my idea seven years ago . I was in Los Angeles and I was prepping for the Billboard Music Awards and Beyoncé dropped that album (Lemonade). I didn’t know anybody in that camp. I got the publicist and the manager’s name and I sent an email, introduced myself, and I didn’t hear anything back until, I think, it was probably September. It was so funny because they answered the email like I had just sent the email the previous day. It was hilarious. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I had forgotten that I even sent the email.” And they were like, “Hey, we like this idea that you had. Let’s talk about it.”
We went through the whole thing and we got The Chicks involved, which was awesome, and it was great to have them back. I love that performance. I thought it was so fantastic, and she was so lovely. It was interesting though. The manager said, “Have you met Beyoncé yet?” And I’m like, “No. I was making sure that she’s not overwhelmed and getting her bearings.” And he’s like, “No, no, come up onstage.” So we went up there and I met her, and she was great, and she was so warm and nice. So, we were walking back to the producer’s table with the manager, and he goes, “OK, so here’s the thing. She knows you now.” I’m like, “OK.” He’s like, “So therefore you don’t have to go between anybody, you don’t have to ask me or anybody on her team. You got anything you want to do, change, anything that you want to talk creatively with her about, she knows you now, just go right up and talk to her.”
It was awesome. I can only tell you what I feel and what I have in my heart, OK? So, I’m watching the performance go down that night, I see all the cameras, I got 17 cameras, I got a big huge monitor backstage at my producer’s table. I’m looking at all the cutaways of everybody, and you should have seen Faith Hill’s face. It was awesome. And her performance was awesome. And I would say that, and they know this, I’ve talked to Beyoncé’s manager, I don’t know, I think three times since that album came out, and they know that they are always welcome. She is always welcome to come on this show. Again, let’s be inclusive. And I can only talk to what I can do. I can only talk to what I know that is in my heart. It’s always better when we’re inclusive. And I feel like we are just scratching the surface here.
When you say there’s always an invitation for Beyoncé, is that to attend or perform?
I told them way back in June, or before June, when the album came out. I said, “Hey, listen, I know that what y’all do is different,” and it should be, by the way, she’s Beyoncé. Because in the last few albums, she hasn’t done the typical , even with the pop stuff, she doesn’t do the typical promotion. It’s like, she’s Beyoncé, she doesn’t have to go do late-night television, you know what I’m saying? How she promotes her music is different. But I had a conversation with her manager, and said, “Look, I’m just letting you know, the arms are open wide for her, if she wants to perform, if she wants to attend. Whatever she would like to do, I want you to know that the welcome mat is at the front door.” So they know that. We had lovely conversations with her manager. I will say this — I had a wonderful time working with her, and again, I loved the performance. It was my idea to invite her in the first place. And let me tell you something, talk about work ethic. Woohie. That work ethic is next-level. I think they rehearsed for seven days in L.A. Like everybody. Full band. Dancing. Everything.
