Country came to town at this year’s Grammy Awards, with Beyoncé claiming the top prize for the genre.
Here are the winners in the general and the Country and American Roots fields.
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
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Alissia
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Ian Fitchuk
Mustard
Daniel Nigro
Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Jessi Alexander
Amy Allen
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
RAYE
(Beyoncé)
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
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 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
Well, this wasn’t my best run in terms of predictions– 2/4 in the General Field, and only Best Country Song in the Country Field– but this is an awfully strong crop of winners. In many categories– Chappell Roan in Best New Artist– I’m not mad to have been wrong! She wasn’t my first choice in any of her four categories, but it’s not like Sierra Ferrell isn’t one of the genre’s finest rising talents, and both Stapleton and Musgraves were recognized for quality work.
The show itself was great, too– best Grammys broadcast in over a decade. Every performer– in contrast to the CMAs last Fall– demonstrated that they have the real mettle to make a legit career as a musician. Compare the impressive, joyful performances by Doechii, RAYE, Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims, and Roan to the tone-deaf horrors of Bailey Zimmerman or Megan Moroney, and ask why the country mainstream is so content to settle for such a gapingly untalented next generation.