{"id":76094,"date":"2025-10-13T17:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T17:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/76094\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T17:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T17:28:09","slug":"grammys-2026-predictions-contemporary-country-album-nominees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/76094\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammys 2026 Predictions: Contemporary Country Album Nominees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLeading up to\u00a0the Grammy nominations on Nov. 7, Rolling Stone is breaking down 10 different categories<\/a>. For each, we\u2019re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the first time in Grammy history, country albums will be separated into two categories: Contemporary and Traditional. The change comes just a year after Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s country music foray with Cowboy Carter earned her a nod (and win!) last year \u2014 and at a time when Nashville seems to be opening its doors to new crossovers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe table just keeps getting bigger, and it\u2019s really exciting for the genre for there to be more space,\u201d says Claire Heinichen, a Senior Editor for Country at Spotify. \u201cI feel stars of the magnitude of Beyonc\u00e9 and Post Malone coming in really was that moment for a lot of people to realize how big this genre has gotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tContemporary Country Album \u2014 Our Predictions\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBigXThaPlug<\/a>, I Hope You\u2019re Happy<\/a>
Kelsea Ballerini<\/a>, Patterns<\/a>
Tyler Childers<\/a>, Snipe Hunter<\/a>
Riley Green, Don\u2019t Mind If I Do (Deluxe)
Jelly Roll<\/a>, Beautifully Broken<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tWho Will Win?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tJelly Roll, Beautifully Broken
In the last few years, Jelly Roll has connected with audiences far beyond country, thanks to his preacher-meets-artist persona \u2014 and Beautifully Broken feels like a pep-talk extension of that brand. \u201cHis superpower is how he connects with people,\u201d says Heinichen. \u201cHe\u2019s managed to make a mark across generations, which makes him an obvious winner to me. The Grammy voting body already knows his name and has been exposed to his music in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWho Should Win?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBigXThaPlug, I Hope You\u2019re Happy
BigXThaPlug found a way to bring all of country music onto his excellent album \u2014 a quintessential example of what the new contemporary designation represents. \u201cIt truly shows the genre moving forward,\u201d says Heinichen. \u201cCountry music loves to talk about being open to collaboration, but that usually just means with pop. BigX came in to show that it can be pop, but it can also be rap. Now that we have proof of concept, it can be anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tForecasting the Field\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Grammys\u2019 decision to split \u201ccontemporary\u201d and \u201ctraditional\u201d country into two categories may not have been a direct reaction to Beyonc\u00e9 and Post Malone stepping into the genre\u2019s insulated world, but Heinichen sees Bey\u2019s win as a \u201cwake-up call that the genre deserved more than just one spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tKelsea Ballerini carried on her legacy of blending pop and country while staying true to the storytelling roots of Nashville on Patterns. \u201cIt\u2019s fun, shiny, and emotional,\u201d says Heinichen. \u201cShe embodies what it means to blend genres while staying authentic as a country storyteller but still resonating with a pop fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTyler Childers\u2019 Snipe Hunter brought fans back to his Purgatory-era grit, pairing biting songwriting with a more expansive sound. Records like Parker McCollum\u2019s self-titled LP, Tucker Wetmore\u2019s What Not To, and Riley Green\u2019s Don\u2019t Mind If I Do could end up as wildcards in the category, despite being overlooked by the Recording Academy in the past. \u201cRiley\u2019s been on a rocket ship of great songs, and the album was full of sleeper hits. He\u2019s one who would totally make sense,\u201d Heinichen adds. \u201cAnd Tucker showed a lot of emotional depth. He\u2019s the next generation of arena-filling artists.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leading up to\u00a0the Grammy nominations on Nov. 7, Rolling Stone is breaking down 10 different categories. For each,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[59402,156,56244,46109,59403,48591,157,111,139,69,59404],"class_list":{"0":"post-76094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-bigxthaplug","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-eric-church","11":"tag-grammys-2026","12":"tag-jelly-roll","13":"tag-kelsea-ballerini","14":"tag-music","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-tyler-childers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}