The Grammy awards are seven months away, but the Recording Academy just announced a change that will have a serious impact on the country music categories.
In the past, there have been four categories in the country genre: Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Duo/Group Performance, Best Country Album, and Best Country Song. With the newly announced change, Best Country Album will be divided into two categories: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album.
The Grammy rule book defines the two categories:
Best Traditional Country Album: "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."
Best Contemporary Country Album: "This Category recognizes contemporary country music recordings, both vocal and instrumental, which utilize a stylistic intention, song structure, lyrical content, and/or musical presentation to create a sensibility that reflects the broad spectrum of contemporary country style and culture. The intent is to recognize country music that remains reminiscent and relevant to the legacy of country music’s culture, while also engaging in more contemporary music forms."
The Grammys are also adding a category for Best Album Cover and expanding the eligibility requirements for Best New Artist. According to Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, "The Academy's top priority is to represent the music people that we serve each year. That entails listening carefully to our members to make sure our rules and guidelines reflect today’s music and allow us to accurately recognize as many deserving creators as possible."
Mark your calendars: The nominations will be announced on November 7, and the awards show will take place on February 1 2026.
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
