Tanner Adell Shares the Moment She Knew She Had to Make a Country Version of Beyoncé’s ‘Drunk in Love’ (Exclusive)

Tanner Adell was one of the millions of Beyoncé fans who watched her performance at the 2018 Coachella music festival and were instantly inspired. Specifically, it helped her realize that “Drunk in Love” could work as a country song and she jumped at the chance to record it that way when the opportunity arose.

That opportunity knocked when the Lexington, Ky.-native was asked to contribute to Apple Music Nashville Sessions: Beyoncé Covered, a special collection of Beyoncé covers by up-and-coming Black country artists. Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy, who joined Adell and Reyna Roberts on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter track “Blackbiird,” also recorded covers for the set.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in Nashville this week, Adell says she began to look at “Drunk in Love” in a new way after seeing Beyoncé's “Beychella” performance and “absolutely fell in love” with the song. Adell kept the idea of covering “Drunk in Love” as a country song in the back of her mind until this chance came.

Although some might not think “Drunk in Love” is perfect for the country genre, Adell says she and her fellow musicians “really pulled it together.” They brought in a pedal steel guitar to replicate Beyoncé’s iconic opening with a country twist.

“There’s some guitar riffs in there that are so country that shouldn’t work,” Adell tells PEOPLE. “Every country artist has a song about being drunk, so it was kind of perfect.”

Adell, Kennedy, Spencer and Roberts can all be heard on “Blackbiird,” a cover of the 1968 Beatles song. The “Buckle Bunny” singer is especially proud of the recording, as it is her father’s favorite song. She also felt Beyonce’s decision to program “Blackbiird” as the second song on Cowboy Carter was a major sign of support for her and her colleagues’ work.

The song “sets the tone in saying these girls are safe, and not just these girls specifically, but the girls in country music,” Adell says. She jokingly compared it to Beyoncé “wrapping her wins around us and saying, ‘Time to see my little babies.’”

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Adell calls her appearance on Cowboy Carter a “win” for her and her fans, many of whom have been listening to her hits “Trailer Park Barbie,” “I Hate Texas” and “F.U.-150” long before “Blackbiird” came out. 

“I saw a lot of growth and, I mean, a lot of interest, but I think mostly it just kind of opened the door for people to go, ‘Oh, this girl’s been here,’ because my dedicated fan base is like, ‘We’ve been here! We’ve been following her for the two years she’s been doing this!’ Which is so funny to me,” Adell says with a laugh.

Apple Music Nashville Sessions: Beyoncé Covered, which also features Spencer’s cover of “Irreplaceable” and Kennedy’s take on “1+1.” is now streaming exclusively on Apple Music. Adell’s next single is “Too Easy” from the upcoming Twisters, which hits theaters on July 19.