Dolly Parton has come to the defense of the Country Music Association after it received flak for omitting Beyoncé from nominations for any honors this year for her country album Cowboy Carter.

The 78-year-old music legend spoke with Variety in an interview published Tuesday, in which she was asked about the surprising development involving the superstar artist.

‘Well, you never know,’ the Pittman Center, Tennessee-born icon told the outlet. ‘There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that.’

The Jolene artist continued, ‘But I didn’t even realize that until somebody asked me that question.’

Parton said she thought that Cowboy Carter ‘was a wonderful album’ that Beyoncé, 43, ‘can be very, very proud of.’

Dolly Parton, 78, has come to the defense of the Country Music Association after it received flak for omitting Beyoncé after she was not nominated for any honors this year for her country album Cowboy Carter. Pictured in England in 2014
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Dolly Parton, 78, has come to the defense of the Country Music Association after it received flak for omitting Beyoncé after she was not nominated for any honors this year for her country album Cowboy Carter. Pictured in England in 2014

Beyoncé, 43, pictured earlier this year in LA, released Cowboy Carter on March 29
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Beyoncé, 43, pictured earlier this year in LA, released Cowboy Carter on March 29

The 9 to 5 singer added that she thinks ‘everybody in country music welcomed her and thought that, that was good.’

Parton said she didn’t feel Beyoncé was intentionally snubbed for her foray into the country genre, which included a remake of her own track Jolene.

‘I don’t think it was a matter of shutting out, like doing that on purpose,’ Parton said. ‘I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album.’

Parton continued, ‘I’ve been fortunate enough to be on both those albums. Well, Jolene was in Beyoncé’s, and I thought that was a great album.’

The Islands in the Stream artist cited Beyoncé’s background, saying, ‘She’s a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base. It wasn’t like she just appeared out of nowhere.’

Parton said she was ‘open to anything’ in terms of a potential collaboration with Beyoncé.

Beyoncé’s history with the CMAs prior to the nominations being announced to controversy earlier this month included a 2016 collaboration with The Chicks of the track Daddy Lessons, which garnered a number of racist reactions online.

Parton spoke on the issue after Beyoncé’s father Mathew Knowles told TMZ on September 9 that the snubbing of his daughter’s record, released March 29, ‘speaks for itself.’

Parton, seen in June in Nashville, said she didn't feel Beyoncé was intentionally snubbed for her foray into the country genre
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Parton, seen in June in Nashville, said she didn’t feel Beyoncé was intentionally snubbed for her foray into the country genre

Beyoncé's hit album included a remake of Parton's track Jolene
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Beyoncé’s hit album included a remake of Parton’s track Jolene

He added: ‘There’s more white people in America and unfortunately they don’t vote based on ability and achievements; it’s still sometimes a white and Black thing.’

Knowles noted that amid the ‘current state of American culture … there’s no accountability for people not being accepting of other cultures.’

Beyoncé did receive 12 nominations for her album at next week’s People’s Choice Country Awards.