advertisement
Music News

Nancy Sinatra Reacts to Beyoncé’s ‘Ya Ya’ Sampling ‘These Boots Are Made for Walkin”

The Cowboy Carter standout opens with a sample of Sinatra's 1966 classic.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé

Blair Caldwell

Nancy Sinatra has shared her thoughts on Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter track “Ya Ya” kicking off with a sample of her own work, the 1966 hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.”

“Ya Ya,” the 20th song on Beyoncé’s new album, reimagines Sinatra’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 in its call-and-response intro. On Friday (March 29), Sinatra posted her reaction to hearing “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” on the set, which dropped that day.


“To have a little piece of one of my records in a @Beyonce song is very meaningful to me because I love her,” Sinatra wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “She represents what is great about today’s music and I’m delighted to be a tiny part of it.”

advertisement

She added, “This may be the best sample of ‘Boots’ yet! And the beat goes on… #Beyonce.”

“These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” was penned by Lee Hazlewood, and Sinatra’s recording was released in December 1965. By February 1966, it had reached the top of the Hot 100.

Beyoncé’s “Ya Ya” also interpolates The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” and Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange.” Cowboy Carter works in a number of memorable samples and interpolations, which Billboard has compiled.

“The joy of creating music is that there are no rules,” Beyoncé said in the press release about Cowboy Carter, a project which she’s said took over five years to complete. “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.”

advertisement

She also noted: “I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects, but it’s the best music I’ve ever made.”

Listen to Beyoncé’s new track “Ya Ya” and revisit Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” below. Billboard ranked all 27 of Cowboy Carter‘s tracks here.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

advertisement
The Beaches accept the Women of the Year award at Billboard Canada Women in Music on Oct. 1, 2025 at Rebel in Toronto.
Door 24
The Beaches accept the Women of the Year award at Billboard Canada Women in Music on Oct. 1, 2025 at Rebel in Toronto.
Partner

The Beaches Accept Women of the Year Award Presented by L’Oréal Paris at Billboard Canada Women in Music 2025

The members of the Toronto band made a special trip home from tour to accept the honour, and had some inspiring — and quoteworthy — words onstage and on the red carpet.

PARTNER CONTENT

The Beaches were guests of honour at Billboard Canada Women in Music 2025, and, as always, they were the life of the party.

keep readingShow less
advertisement