In a historic moment at the 2025 Grammys, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to win both Album of the Year and Best Country Album for “Cowboy Carter.”
The Record-Breaking Win
The Recording Academy’s decision to split the country album category came just months after Beyoncé’s win, creating a new award for traditional country and redefining the existing category as contemporary country. The move has sparked debate, with some seeing it as a response to Beyoncé’s victory and others welcoming the expanded recognition.
Why the Academy Split the Category
Charles L. Hughes, professor at Rhodes College, said Beyoncé’s win was “a welcomed surprise, despite being obviously worthy.” He added that the change “is not in direct response to her win – I think it is a more complicated story,” but the timing might have made it appear reactionary. Hughes hopes the new categories will open the genre to more diversity, especially for Black artists.
Francesca T. Royster, professor at DePaul University, praised the split. “Having these two categories just allows for more experimentation and maybe less of a double standard,” she said. “It makes sense that the Grammy categories for country would become a little bit more expansive,” she added.
Defining Traditional vs Contemporary
The Academy’s rule book defines traditional country as “country recordings that adhere to the more traditional sound structures of the country genre, including rhythm and singing style, lyrical content, as well as traditional country instrumentation.” Traditional instruments include acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electric guitar and live drums. Subgenres such as outlaw country, Western and Western swing fit here.
Contemporary country is described as albums that “utilize a stylistic intention, song structure, lyrical content, and/or musical presentation to create a sensibility that reflects the broad spectrum of contemporary country style and culture,” while remaining relevant to country’s legacy.
2026 Nominees
In the contemporary country album category, nominees are:
- Kelsea Ballerini – “Patterns”
- Tyler Childers – “Snipe Hunter”
- Eric Church – “Evangeline vs. the Machine”
- Jelly Roll – “Beautifully Broken”
- Miranda Lambert – “Postcards from Texas”
In the traditional category, nominees are:
- Charley Crockett – “Dollar a Day”
- Lukas Nelson – “American Romance”
- Willie Nelson – “Oh What a Beautiful World”
- Margo Price – “Hard Headed Woman”
- Zach Top – “Ain’t In It For My Health”
Artists React
Jelly Roll, nominated in the contemporary category, told the Associated Press: “Anytime the pipe widens, more water gets through. And this was the pipe widening, baby. I love it. I’m happy. I’m a fan of both sides. It encourages me to maybe make a traditional country album one day, you know? So, this is cool.”
Three-time Grammy winner Brad Paisley shared a similar view. “Awards are really tools to sort of get awareness for something that you made, you know?” he said. “They’re never the goal. It’s always more like, ‘Oh, cool, this might make more people listen to it.’ … If this means they got to make more little gold gramophone statues to give out, and two people get them versus one, great.” He added that he might have to think about how a category could influence his creative decisions, but hoped it wouldn’t.
Key Takeaways
- Beyoncé’s win marked a first for Black women in country music.
- The Academy’s split creates traditional and contemporary country categories.
- The 2026 nominees reflect a mix of classic and modern country sounds.
The 68th Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 1, 2026 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
