Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, and George Strait also are among the nominees.
First, the good news: Recent C&I cover stars Charley Crockett, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, and Lainey Wilson were among the acknowledged when nominations for the 68th annual Grammy Awards were announced Friday morning. And living legend George Strait also made the list, in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category along with Stapleton for “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame.”
The bad news: As the showbiz trade paper Variety pointed noted, “country was very much underrepresented, with nary a nomination in any of the four all-genre categories.” Indeed, Variety may have understated the seriousness of the situation: “Nashville’s lockout from the major categories year after year (aside from an outlier like Beyonce’s one-time genre dip) is bound to stir discussion going forward.”
Let’s hope so.
In the meantime: Here are the nominees in the country-specific categories. Winners will be announced Sunday, February 1, during the Grammy Awards ceremony telecast live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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)
Best Traditional Country Album
Dollar a Day — Charley Crockett
American Romance — Lukas Nelson
Oh What a Beautiful World — Willie Nelson
Hard Headed Woman — Margo Price
Ain’t in It for My Health — Zach Top
Best Contemporary Country Album
Patterns — Kelsea Ballerini
Snipe Hunter — Tyler Childers
Evangeline vs. the Machine — Eric Church
Beautifully Broken — Jelly Roll
Postcards From Texas — Miranda Lambert
