The Grammys Add New Category Honoring Traditional Country Music
On Thursday (June 12), the Grammys announced the addition of a traditional country category to the 2026 awards ceremony.
Before the announcement, the Grammys only had four country-specific categories. Those categories were:
- Best Country Album
- Best Country Solo Performance
- Best Country Duo/Group Performance
- Best Country Song
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The Best Country Album category was the source of a lot of controversy this year (2025). Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter won the award, resulting in a ton of backlash from fans who felt the project was not “country” enough compared to the other nominees.
Now, more “traditional” country albums will be honored in a separate category.
Billboard reports that the Grammys will add a new category recognizing the Best Traditional Country Album in 2026. Additionally, it’s the only new category the Grammys intend to introduce next year.
As Billboard explains, “new categories are considered from proposals submitted to the Recording Academy’s Awards & Nominations committee, which are then voted on by the Academy’s board of trustees.”
Billboard shared the definition of the Best Traditional Country Album category, which reads:
“This category recognizes excellence in albums of traditional country music, both vocal and instrumental. Traditional country includes 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 such as acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electric guitar, and live drums. It also includes sub-genres such as Western, Western Swing, and Outlaw country.”
The Name Of The Best Country Album Category Has Changed
In addition to introducing the Best Traditional Country Album category, the Grammys have also renamed the award for Best Country Album. That category will now be known as the Best Contemporary Country Album.
“The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored,” Mason told Billboard about the decision to make these changes. “They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.”
The Grammys hope that having separate categories for contemporary and traditional country albums will allow artists outside of the mainstream to receive well-deserved recognition. Previously, artists who released more “traditional” projects earned nods in the Americana and American Roots categories.
“I’m quite certain now you’re going to see the right people going into Americana versus folk versus traditional country,” Mason said.
What do you think about the Grammys’ changes to the country categories for next year’s ceremony?
