Kacey Musgraves Responds To ‘Star-Crossed’ Being Ineligible In The Country Album Category At 2022 Grammys

Kacey musgraves country music
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Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming.

After a flurry of controversy that started two days ago when the news broke that Kacey Musgraves’ recent album, Star-Crossed, would be ineligible in the country album category at this years Grammy Awards, she’s firing back.

She took to Twitter to post a photo of herself when she was a little girl, wearing a red cowgirl hat with a caption featuring lyrics from her song “Dime Store Cowgirl”:

“You can take the girl out of the country (genre) but you can’t take the country out of the girl.”

And then, in a series of posts on her Instagram story, she added photos with the caption “ain’t that right?” with most of country music’s most legendary living artists, like Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, Ronnie Milsap, George Strait, Pam Tillis, Martina McBride, Reba, Alan Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Leann Womack and Brooks and Dunn.

Loretta even reposted Kacey’s story, saying:

“100% COUNTRY! #countryascornbread #girlssticktogether #yourelookinatcountry.”

Loretta Lynn country music Willie Nelson, Willie Nelson et al. are posing for a picture

Kacey Musgraves, Kacey Musgraves et al. are posing for a picture

Kacey musgraves george strait country music

Kacey Musgraves brooks and dunn country music

She finished the stories with a photo of herself performing with both middle fingers up, so I guess that’s about all we need to know in terms of how she feels about the whole thing:

Kacey Musgraves country music

Even Ronnie Dunn, who she sang with for “Neon Moon” on Brooks and Dunn’s Reboot album, took to twitter to defend her, saying:

“Singin’ #NeonMoon with my favorite COUNTRY girl @KaceyMusgraves… RD.”

And, like I said before, I do agree with the Grammy Academy’s decision not to include Star-Crossed for consideration in the country album category, because it’s simply not a country album.

As much as I wanted it to be, and believe me I did, her label ended up partnering with Interscope records (a non-country label) for distribution and promotion… so it’s hard to say they were completely shocked by this, really.

I don’t think anyone is questioning her previous work and everything she’s done for country music prior to this, either. In my opinion, Same Trailer, Different Park and Pageant Material are two of the best country albums of the last decade.

This particular album just isn’t country.

Also, wouldn’t it be nice if we could follow this criteria with all of the country albums up for consideration? I think there’s been plenty of others over the past few years who should’ve had their records moved to other genres, too.

And honestly, seeing Kacey upset about the whole thing makes me feel a little bit better about her current musical direction. To know that she feels so strongly about wanting to be considered “country” is a good thing. We need someone like her in the genre.

Though she may not have exactly proved her country-ness on this go around with Star-Crossed, maybe she really doesn’t plan to go completely pop forever.

And, though there’s nothing she can do to change this years decision, I know what she can do for the 2023 Grammys:

Make another country album…

PLEASE.

“Dime Store Cowgirl”

A beer bottle on a dock

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