Kacey Musgraves Worked on Her Spanish-Speaking Skills for Her Album 'Star-Crossed'

Fans of musician Kacey Musgraves are thrilled about her new album Star-Crossed, but with its release, they have questions for the "Justified" songstress. Does Kacey Musgraves speak Spanish? She's previously covered songs by Selena Quintanilla in Spanish, but does she speak the language fluently? Here's everything we know about Kacey's language skills and her Spanish knowledge.

In a recent interview with NPR, Kacey went on record and spoke about the differences between her latest album and Golden Hour, which present a thematic juxtaposition: Golden Hour was when she was "falling in love," and Star-Crossed is a "post-divorce" album. Kacey won a Grammy for Album of the Year for Golden Hour, and Star-Crossed is equally filled with musical and emotional depth.

When asked what new aspects of herself Kacey learned when recording this album, she explained that she learned Spanish for the album specifically. "I'm pulling from a wider range of influences on this record. I'm playing with a lot of different textures and a lot of different sounds that I haven't really tried before. And I even learned a little bit of Spanish for this record."

She continued, "I grew up in Texas; I've been around Spanish speakers my whole life. I just really respect the language. I think it's gorgeous. Just kind of as a fan, I've been taking Spanish lessons for several years. But I heard the song 'Gracias a la Vida,' and I knew that I had to record it for this."

Kacey credits the singer-songwriter of "Gracias a la Vida," Violeta Parra, a Chilean folk singer and activist. "I think it's interesting that this song was on the last album she had written; she did commit suicide. I think that adds to the intense, tragic, and sorrowful nature of what this song is saying 'thank you' to life. You've given me so much. You've given me the beautiful and the terrible. You've given me the pain and the laughter. And I'm thankful for all of it."

The "Space Cowboy" songstress also adds that she has a lot of respect for the Spanish language and eventually wants to understand enough to write an entire song in Spanish. "There's all these colors that the English language, sadly, just doesn't really use. There are all these other ways to explain something or to convey an emotion, just different shades and different degrees that English just cannot do."

Kacey also says her first goal is to be able to hold a conversation in Spanish "and not get embarrassed."

In February 2019, Billboard reported Kacey covered Selena's hit "Como La Flor" at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The Houston Rodeo in February 1995 was Selena's third and final performance at that location, making Kacey's performance in tribute extra special. While she did perform in Spanish at the time, it sounds like she's been working to improve her language skills since then!

Kacey's latest album Star-Crossed is available for streaming now.