Grammys Provides New Nation Class For 2026 Present After Beyoncé’s Win

The nation music classes on the upcoming Grammy Awards in 2026 will look completely different than earlier than.

Months after Beyoncé took residence the awards for “Greatest Nation Album” and “Album of the Yr” for her genre-bending eighth studio album, “Cowboy Carter,” which options the No. 1 nation single “Texas Maintain ‘Em,” the Recording Academy’s CEO revealed that nation musicians approached the board with a proposal for a big change.

Transferring ahead, the Grammy Awards will now honor two distinct forms of nation albums: one that includes a extra conventional fashion of nation music, and the opposite celebrating artists with a extra up to date sound, which frequently incorporates R&B, pop, and blues.

Through the 2025 Grammy Awards, there have been 10 nation classes within the nation and roots discipline, with one particularly for Greatest Nation Album.

For the upcoming ceremony, which can happen someday throughout the first quarter of 2026, that class can be break up into two: Greatest Conventional Nation Album and Greatest Modern Nation Album.

Different classes, which deal with Americana, bluegrass, folks, and extra, will stay.

The Recording Academy’s CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., elaborated on the change in an interview with Billboard, including that nation performers approached the academy with their issues.

“They mentioned, we expect we’d like more room for our music to be celebrated and honored,” he informed the publication, including that the proposal had been submitted a number of occasions previously earlier than being handed this 12 months.

“It makes nation parallel with what’s taking place in different genres,” Mason mentioned, “However it is usually creating area for the place this style goes.”

In accordance with Billboard, the Grammys’ new Greatest Conventional Album class will acknowledge “excellence in albums of conventional nation music, each vocal and instrumental.”

“Conventional nation consists of nation recordings that adhere to the extra conventional sound buildings of the nation style, together with rhythm and singing fashion, lyrical content material, in addition to conventional nation instrumentation akin to acoustic guitar, metal guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electrical guitar, and stay drums. It additionally consists of sub-genres akin to Western, Western Swing, and Outlaw nation.”

As Mason continued talking in regards to the Academy’s choice to replace the nation classes on the Grammys, he additionally recommended that the change will present extra alternatives for artists to be celebrated amongst their friends.

“The problems have been, historically, lots of people that weren’t positive whether or not [an album] was Americana or roots or folks or nation had been simply jamming all the things into one class,” he mentioned. “There are clearly nuances between the completely different genres. These specialists in these genres perceive these nuances, and I’m fairly sure now you’re going to see the correct individuals going into Americana versus folks versus conventional nation. [The change] offers us a possibility to place issues in additional particular classes.”

Mason defined that making modifications to the way in which nation music is honored on the Grammys permits the Recording Academy to remain present with the style’s evolution.

“I’m hopeful that that neighborhood understands that the academy is doing what it all the time does, which is keep in tune with what’s taking place of their style,” he completed.

In early 2025, after successful a number of Grammys for her nation album, “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé confronted criticism from on-line customers who believed she wasn’t deserving of the dignity.

Nonetheless, throughout her acceptance speech, the previous Future’s Baby member used her platform to share phrases of encouragement for these watching.