2026 GRAMMY Nominations Feature Few Country Stars

2026 GRAMMY Nominations Feature Few Country Stars - Page 2

65th GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals — Source: Miranda Lambert attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

2026 GRAMMY Nominations Feature Few Country Stars

The nominees for the 2026 GRAMMY Awards were announced Friday. The selection of nominees features few country music stars, despite the resurgence the genre has experienced over the past several years.

Several country stars were nominated multiple times for awards within the country music categories, yet not a single artist received a nomination outside of the country-specific categories.

RELATED: Country Music Grammy Winners

Although it’s likely very disappointing for country music fans to see no representation for the genre beyond its own award categories, there is some intrigue behind the new award category; Best Traditional Country Album.

The announcement for the addition came back in June, as the Best Country Album category was split in two, with the former representing more traditional themes and sounds in country music, while the Best Country Album category has become the Best Contemporary Country Album category.

This may be due in part to the Beyoncé’s 2025 win in the previous category, which sparked controversy amongst fans of the genre and fans of Cowboy Carter.

As for the country music categories, Tyler Childers and Miranda Lambert lead all country artists with four nominations. Chris Stapleton, Zach Top and Lainey Wilson come in third with three nominations each.

It’s worth noting Morgan Wallen did not submit his 37-track album, I’m the Problem, for GRAMMY consideration.

Regardless of the lack of representation for country music at the upcoming 2026 GRAMMY Awards, here are the nominees for the country music categories:

Best Country Solo Performance

“Nose on the Grindstone” – Tyler Childers
“Good News” – Shaboozey
“Bad as I Used to Be [From “F1 The Movie”]” – Chris Stapleton
“I Never Lie” – Zach Top
“Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“A Song to Sing” — Miranda Lambert And Chris Stapleton
“Trailblazer” — Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson
“Love Me Like You Used to Do” — Margo Price & Tyler Childers
“Amen” — Shaboozey & Jelly Roll
“Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” — George Strait, Chris Stapleton

Best Country Song

“Bitin’ List” — Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)
“Good News” — Michael Ross Pollack, Sam Elliot Roman & Jacob Torrey, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Never Lie” — Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols & Zach Top, songwriters (Zach Top)
“Somewhere Over Laredo” — Andy Albert, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson & Lainey Wilson, songwriters (Lainey Wilson)
“A Song to Sing” — Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure, Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton)