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NC native Rhiannon Giddens plays banjo on new Beyoncé single 'Texas Hold 'Em'

Rhiannon Giddens, a two-time Grammy winner, plays the banjo in the first 15 seconds of Beyoncé's new single "Texas Hold 'Em."

Posted 2024-02-14T16:21:50+00:00 - Updated 2024-02-14T16:25:44+00:00

Musician Rhiannon Giddens at her home in Limerick, Ireland, Nov. 10, 2020. Giddens’ first major undertaking as Silkroad artistic director will be The American Silkroad, a multiyear project focused on the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century. (Karen Cox/The New York Times)

A Greensboro native and celebrated musician plays a key role in the new Beyoncé single.

Rhiannon Giddens, a two-time Grammy winner, plays the banjo in the first 15 seconds of Beyoncé's new single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.” Giddens said she learned her performance was featured on the track on Monday morning. hours after Beyoncé sent the music world into a frenzy with the announcement of a new album.

It's the first song off her new country-inspired record "Act II," her eighth studio album scheduled for release on March 29.

Beyonce teased the new music in a commercial during Super Bowl LVIII Sunday night.

Giddens has performed with Durham-based The Carolina Chocolate Drops and The New Basement Tapes in her career.