I’d prepared myself throughout the morning to misdirect a soul-burning sense of rage onto today’s slate of Grammy nominations, but it turns out they’re really not as bad as they had the potential to be. There are a handful of pleasant surprises based upon who voters included and who they pointedly excluded, and, for at least a moment, there’s an opportunity to find reprieve in a vision of country music that is diverse, creative, and forward-thinking.
GENERAL FIELD
Record of the Year
The Beatles, “Now and then”
Beyoncé, “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”
Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso”
Charli XCX, “360”
Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather”
Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
Chappell Roan, “Good Luck, Babe!”
Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone, “Fortnight”
Album of the Year
Andre 3000, New Blue Sun
Beyoncé, COWBOY CARTER
Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet
Charli XCX, BRAT
Jacob Collier, Djesse Vol. 4
Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft
Chappell Roan, Chappell Roan The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess
Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department
Song of the Year
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER”
Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell
“Die With a Smile”
Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt
“Fortnight”
Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift
“Good Luck, Babe!”
Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter
“Not Like Us”
Kendrick Lamar
“Please Please Please”
Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”
Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq
Best New Artist
Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
RAYE
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
There are plenty of battles for the various stan armies to pick here. Among the “main pop girls”– which is the very online way they’re categorized, which is why I typed that with my jaw clenched– Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Billie Eilish all turned up where they were expected to, while Charli XCX exceeded expectations and Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Dua Lipa all underperformed.
The year’s driving narrative around the influx of country influences on the pop music mainstream is well-represented here. It wasn’t a question, really, that COWBOY CARTER would contend for Album of the Year, while “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” was a sure bet in both the Record and Song of the Year categories. Nominations suggesting that Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is somehow a more noteworthy composition than it is a single is the kind of mess the Grammys are known for, but his presence in the General Field is fully earned. As we said in last week’s Singles Review Round-Up, he’s far too good for genre gatekeepers to have already declared him a one-hit wonder, and here’s hoping his Best New Artist nomination helps him to sustain some commercial momentum.
That he’s the lone country representative in the Best New Artist field is something of a surprise. Many pundits were anticipating a Molly Tuttle-like nomination for either Sierra Ferrell or The Red Clay Strays, and either would have made more sense than the nod for Khruangbin, whose first album came out fully nine years ago. Still, a lot of major press outlets were certain Megan Moroney would land a nomination here, and we’ll just say we’re super not sad that NARAS, across-the-board, saw her for the Emperor’s New Clothes situation she really is.
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Alissia
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
(Koe Wetzel’s “Bar Song”)
Ian Fitchuk
(Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well, Beyonce’s “AMEN,” Maggie Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me, Leon Bridges’ “Peaceful Place”)
Mustard
Daniel Nigro
A couple of ties to some country and country-adjacent projects in the Producer of the Year category this year. It’s noteworthy to see the producer of Musgraves’ set included here, and, as highlighted downballot, that the album was included as a nominee for Best Engineered Album. That could be an indicator of very strong “inside baseball” type industry support for Deeper Well purely in terms of its technical craft.
Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Jessi Alexander
(Luke Combs, Dustin Lynch featuring Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney, Conner Smith feat. Hailey Whitters)
Amy Allen
(Leon Bridges, Koe Wetzel)
Edgar Barrera
(Carin Leon)
Jessie Jo Dillon
(Megan Moroney, Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini)
RAYE
(Beyoncé)
Of note, each of the five nominees in this category collaborated on songs with ties to the country genre. Barrera contributed to Carin Leon’s collaborations with both Leon Bridges and Kane Brown, while RAYE is credited on COWBOY CARTER’s “RIVERDANCE.” Alexander and Dillon are both well-regarded hired gun songwriters in Nashville.
COUNTRY & AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD
Best Country Solo Performance
Beyoncé, “16 CARRIAGES”
Jelly Roll, “I Am Not Okay”
Kacey Musgraves, “The Architect”
Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)
Chris Stapleton, “It Takes a Woman”
Best Country Duo / Group Performance
Kelsea Ballerini feat. Noah Kahan, “Cowboys Cry Too”
Beyoncé feat. Miley Cyrus, “II Most Wanted”
Brothers Osborne, “Break Mine”
Dan+Shay, “Bigger Houses”
Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help”
Best Country Song
“The Architect”
Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams
“I Am Not Okay”
Casey Brown, Jason DeFord, Ashley Gorley & Taylor Phillips
“I Had Some Help”
Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Morgan Wallen & Chandler Paul Walters
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”
Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq
Best Country Album
Beyoncé, COWBOY CARTER
Post Malone, F-1 Trillion
Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Well
Chris Stapleton, Higher
Lainey Wilson, Whirlwind
This year marks the first time Morgan Wallen has received Grammy nominations for his own work; previously, the writers of one of his hit singles were nominees for Best Country Song. His collaboration with Post Malone, one of the year’s most-nominated acts overall, carried him to two nominations this year. While it still remains to be seen if Grammy voters will embrace him entirely on his own, there are certainly other acts we would’ve been happy to see in his place. Say, Kane Brown’s and Marshmello’s “Miles On It,” not to put too fine a point on it.
Beyond that, the story here is that Beyoncé was nominated in all four of the Country categories in which she submitted music, and I’m confident the usual gatekeepers are feeling even more emboldened than ever about telling a black woman where she does or doesn’t belong, so cue the thinkpieces about invented white grievance masked as “authenticity.” While my personal favorite track from COWBOY CARTER wasn’t submitted anywhere– the Bobbie Gentry homage, “Alligator Tears,” for those playing along– I do love that three different tracks are recognized across these categories.
Luke Bryan’s absence here is duly noted.
There aren’t any nominations here that don’t make at least some degree of sense. “The Architect” is the obvious standout single from Musgraves’ set, and Jelly Roll is arguably the genre’s most visible star this year. Dan+Shay feel like a throwaway nomination in a competitive field, but they’re also previous winners in a category that has slow turnover. I’ve heard more than 150 albums this year that are superior to both Post Malone’s and Lainey Wilson’s (… and Musgraves’, too…), but their nominations aren’t anything truly egregious for a category that has awarded Lady [REDACTED]. Twice.
Best American Roots Performance
Shemekia Copeland, “Blame it On Eve”
The Fabulous Thunderbirds feat. Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo, Taj Mahal, & Mick Fleetwood, “Nothing in Rambling”
Sierra Ferrell, “Lighthouse”
Rhiannon Giddens, “The Ballad of Sally Anne”
Best Americana Performance
Beyoncé, “YA YA”
Madison Cunningham, “Subtitles”
Madi Diaz feat. Kacey Musgraves, “Don’t Do Me Good”
Sierra Ferrell, “American Dreaming”
Sarah Jarosz, “Runaway Train”
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, “Empty Trainload of Sky”
Best American Roots Song
“Ahead of the Game”
Mark Knopfler
“All in Good Time”
Sam Beam
“All My Friends”
Aoife O’Donovan
“American Dreaming”
Sierra Ferrell & Melody Walker
“Blame it On Eve”
John Hahn & Will Kimbrough
Best Americana Album
T Bone Burnett, The Other Side
Charley Crockett, $10 Cowboy
Sierra Ferrell, Trail of Flowers
Sarah Jarosz, Polaroid Lovers
Maggie Rose, No One Gets Out Alive
Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood
Best Bluegrass Album
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, I Built a World
The Del McCoury Band, Songs of Love & Life
Sister Sadie, No Fear
Billy Strings, Live, Vol. 1
Tony Trischka, Earl Jam
Dan Tyminski, Live From the Ryman
Best Traditional Blues Album
Cedric Burnside, Hill Country Love
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Struck Down
Sue Foley, One Guitar Woman
Little Feat, Sam’s Place
The Taj Mahal Sextet, Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa
Best Contemporary Blues Album
Joe Bonamassa, Blues Deluxe Vol. 2
Shemekia Copeland, Blame it on Eve
Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour, Friendlytown
Ruthie Foster, Mileage
Antonio Veraga, The Fury
Best Folk Album
American Patchwork Quartet, American Patchwork Quartet
Madi Diaz, Weird Faith
Adrianne Lenker, Bright Future
Aofie O’Donovan, All My Friends
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Woodland
There are some inspired picks throughout the remainder of the “country universe” fields. Shemekia Copeland’s latest album clearly resonated with voters, and that’s richly deserved, as are the multiple nominations for Sierra Ferrell, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and Aofie O’Donovan. I will never understand NARAS’ fascination with Madison Cunningham, but both of the performance categories here are kind of spectacular.
While I personally believe COWBOY CARTER is a work of “Americana” in the truest sense of that word, most of the albums nominated for Best Americana Album are tremendous in their own right. I was especially pleased to see the slept-on, career-best album by Maggie Rose make the cut. The nominations for Ruthie Foster, Cedric Burnside, and Adrianne Lenker in their respective categories are also great surprises. Another favorite is Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam. In a year when I’ve actually heard all of the Bluegrass nominees, his record is the easy standout, even up against Del McCoury Band and Billy Strings.
Other stray nominations…
- “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” Luke Combs, for Best Song Written for Visual Media
- The Avett Brothers and Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion, for Best Recording Package
- Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well for Best Engineered Album
- Béla Fleck’s and Chick Corea’s “Remembrance” for Best Instrumental Composition
- Béla Fleck’s “Rhapsody in Blue(Grass)” for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella
- Béla Fleck’s Rhapsody in Blue in Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
- Beyoncé’s “BODYGUARD” in Best Pop Solo Performance
- Beyoncé’s and Post Malone’s “LEVII’S JEANS” in Best Pop Duo / Group Performance
- Shaboozey’s and David Guetta’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy) [Remix]” in Best Remixed Recording
- Beyoncé’s, Linda Martell’s, and Shaboozey’s “SPAGHETTI” in Best Melodic Rap Performance
- Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams for Best Narration.
Bela Fleck’s Rhapsody in Blue project was always going to be catnip to Grammy voters, and they came through with well-deserved nominations in the instrumental categories. And what an amazing prospect for Linda Martell to take home her first Grammy award.
And, in the interest of fairness, we must also applaud the Grammy voters’ good taste in declining to nominate Dolly Parton in the Rock field for her misguided Rockstar project. We’re not ones to root against Dolly Parton ever, but that’s less a “snub” than it is “correct.” Sharp-eyed reader Tom P caught a nomination for Dolly that we’d missed, tucked away in the Best Narration category, though!
It’s really odd that not only “A Bar Song” got in Song but not Record, but it happened with “Die With a Smile” too. That Beatles nod in Record is just inexplicable, of course.
The Record / Song split reminds me of “Single Ladies” being recognized as a song and not as a single: Sure, there’s something to be said for the structure of it, but “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is particularly effective because of the production and performance.
I wish I agreed that the Beatles nomination was inexplicable, but that’s such a textbook Grammys move. I actually expected that to turn up in Record of the Year *and* Pop Duo / Group Performance.
True, my word choice was poor. It’s certainly in line with past Grammys selections. I probably should have just used “lame” or something.
why such disdain for Megan Maroney and Lady A??
Ok, I actually love Dolly’s “Rockstar” but I do agree that it should not be nominated for a Grammy. I do want to mention that Dolly did get a Grammy nomination this year for “Best Narration” for her book “Behind The Seams”. I think it should be noted and is well deserved.
Great catch, Tom! I’ve updated the post to include that nomination for Dolly. With 491618594 categories, that one snuck by me on the ballot!
..just coincidence or more? i am quite flabbergasted by the outcome of the us-elections. looking at “cowboy carter”, it almost perfectly foreboded what just happened. beyoncé spectacularly broke morgan wallen’s dominance in the album charts for a short while but in the end wallen and his album prevailed (pretty big time).
has the rationally hardly explicable spectacular rise of wallen since 2020 even been the accidental blueprint for what has been happening and how things really are in america? it’ll be interesting to see, whether the forthcoming cma awards are delivering a similar “surprise“/result as the elections by making him etoy – wallen that is. the grammys may need a late little nudge in the right direction to get it so beautifully right under the new circumstances. the acm afterward surely will, since blaming wallen for anything he has done, now looks absolutely ridiculous and tolerable in relation to this new alternative american reality.
is it true that kamala harris throws up when “you look like you love me” gets suggested by spotify? boy, these alternative news are getting more and more believable these days, aren’t they.
when it comes to song of the year – anything but the nomination of lee greenwood’s “god bless the u.s.a” now looks like a major fail – which ever way you look at it. in fact, if things were to work out in this dawning new era, it may just become the greatest country song ever, and his bible the most trustworthy truth social.
jeez, fool that i am i was wondering until lately about such things like whether leeann – in a special effort – might be reviewing the tons of christmas albums that are coming out ahead of this season. bless me.