Kelsea Ballerini, Tyler Childers, Jelly Roll and More Receive 2026 Grammy Nominations

As the 2026 Grammy nominations live-stream began, while many fans were keeping a close eye out for the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar, all eyes in the country music world were glued to the screen as the brand new Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album nods were unveiled.

We were fascinated to see how the Recording Academy would approach this newly introduced dichotomy. Could they essentially put the Americana acts into Best Traditional, and leave the likes of Post Malone and BigXthaPlug for Best Contemporary? Or would Best Traditional be the home of neo-traditional favourites, such as Zach Top and Jake Worthington, while Best Contemporary encompasses more genre-blurring material from the likes of Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Wallen?

Well, we now have our answer and it's a little...underwhelming, in truth. The 2026 Best Contemporary Country Album Grammy nominees are Patterns by Kelsea Ballerini, Snipe Hunter by Tyler Childers, Evangeline Vs. The Machine by Eric Church, Beautifully Broken by Jelly Roll and Postcards From Texas by Miranda Lambert.

The 2026 Best Traditional Country Album Grammy nominees, meanwhile, are Dollar A Day by Charley Crockett, American Romance by Lukas Nelson, Oh What A Beautiful World by Willie Nelson, Hard Headed Woman by Margo Price and Ain't In It For My Health by Zach Top. It's a uniquely sweet moment, with father and son Willie and Lukas Nelson both being nominated in the same category.

Positives first - it's lovely to see Holler favourites such as Margo Price and Zach Top getting a coveted Grammy nod, and it's nice that the Best Contemporary and Best Traditional split opens up room for more artists to receive recognition (even if it was just inspired by the backlash to Beyoncé's 2025 victory).

Nonetheless, Willie's inclusion does feel somewhat strange, given how many fantastic albums were released during the eligibility period (August 31st, 2024 – August 30th, 2025). Simiarly to Stapleton, Willie is a longstanding golden-child of Recording Academy, and this year's list reinforces the ‘in-crowd’ feel of the Grammys.

We're also not entirely sure why Miranda Lambert, Tyler Childers and Eric Church aren't considered Traditional Country. We see the argument for Kelsea Ballerini and Jelly Roll, who blur the lines between R&B and pop, but Lambert, Childers and Church are students of classic country, and showcase this on their latest albums.

Perhaps the reason these nominations feel a little strange, if uncontroversial, is that the six biggest names in modern country music right now - Morgan Wallen, Megan Moroney, Luke Combs, Zach Bryan, Ella Langley and Riley Green - are absent.

Now, Combs didn't release an album within the eligibility period, so his omission is understandable, and Bryan tends to steer clear of the Grammys and country music as a whole. Wallen, similarly, did not submit his I'm the Problem album for Grammy consideration, which explains why he's not anywhere to be seen.

Moroney's acclaimed Am I Okay? album was released outside of the eligibility period, but nonetheless, after a stellar year from the Georgia native, we were expecting to see her included in the Best New Artist category, along with Ella Langley, perhaps.

Although there are reasons for the likes of Moroney, Wallen, Bryan and Combs not to be featured here, the fact that they're not included inevitably makes these two categories feel a little out-of-touch. We love Miranda Lambert and Jelly Roll, but neither of their albums felt like they made a major splash in the country music scene.

We'll have to wait and see who is crowned the victor in either category, but as an immediate reaction, these 2026 country nominations feel safe and solid, if a little uninspired.

For the full 2026 country Grammy nominations, see below:

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

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 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 & 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 & Chris Stapleton)

For more on Kelsea Ballerini, see below: