GRAMMY Awards 1997: 14-Year-Old LeAnn Rimes Becomes The Youngest Grammy Winner Of All Time

LeAnn Rimes country music grammy awards

The 65th annual GRAMMY Awards take place on February 5th in LA, but it’s time to look back at a historic country moment.

In 1996, a young pop country phenom named LeAnn Rimes burst onto the country music scene with her debut major label studio album titled Blue.

Featuring hits like “Blue,” “Hurt Me,” “One Way Ticket (Because I Can),” “Unchained Melody,” and “The Light in Your Eyes,” the album went multi-platinum proving that the 13-year old star was talented beyond her years.

The following year, she was nominated for two Grammys at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, the all-genre Best New Artist as well as Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her single, “Blue.”

“Blue” songwriter Bill Mack was also nominated for all-genre Song of the Year.

She would win both nomination that year, and become the youngest Grammy winner of all time at just 14 years old. And to this day, she is still the youngest individual Grammy winner of all time.

She was also the first country artists to win Best New Artist.

The following year, she performed her smash single “How Do I Live” at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.

Zach Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson And More Receive 2023 GRAMMY Nominations

The moment we’ve all been waiting for…Mr. Zach Bryan picked up his very first Grammy nomination for “Something in the Orange” in the Best Country Solo Performance category.

A HUGE congratulations to him on that.

We also have the likes of Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde and Willie Nelson up for a shot at the award for Best Country Album, which is a truly fantastic group of artists who are all deserving of the award.

All things considered, they did a decent job, and of course we all have our own opinions about who should’ve been nominated where, but it’s definitely a solid group overall.

Check ’em out:

COUNTRY

Best Country Solo Performance:

“Heartfirst” — Kelsea Ballerini
“Something in the Orange” — Zach Bryan
“In His Arms” — Miranda Lambert
“Circles Around This Town” — Maren Morris
“Live Forever” — Willie Nelson

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:

“Wishful Drinking” — Ingrid Andress and Sam Hunt
“Midnight Rider’s Prayer” — Brothers Osborne
“Outrunnin’ Your Memory” — Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert
“Does He Love You — Revisited” — Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” — Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
“Going Where the Lonely Go” —Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Best Country Song:

“Circles Around This Town” — Ryan Hurd, Julia Michaels, Maren Morris and Jimmy Robbins, songwriters (Maren Morris)
“Doin’ This,” Luke Combs” — Drew Parker and Robert Williford, songwriters (Luke Combs)
“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” — Lori McKenna and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“If I Was a Cowboy” — Jesse Frasure and Miranda Lambert, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
“I’ll Love You Till The Day I Die” — Rodney Crowell and Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Willie Nelson)
“’Til You Can’t” — Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis, songwriters (Cody Johnson)

Best Country Album:

Growin’ Up — Luke Combs
Palomino — Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville — Ashley McBryde
Humble Quest — Maren Morris
A Beautiful Time — Willie Nelson

AMERICANA/ROOTS

Featuring nominations for Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, Allison Krause and Robert Plant:

Best American Roots Performance:

“Someday It’ll All Make Sense (Bluegrass Version)” — Bill Anderson featuring Dolly Parton
“Life According to Raechel” — Madison Cunningham
“Oh Betty” — Fantastic Negrito
“Stompin’ Ground” — Aaron Neville with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
“Prodigal Daughter” — Aoife O’Donovan and Allison Russell

Best Americana Performance:

“Silver Moon (A Tribute to Michael Nesmith)” — Eric Alexandrakis
“There You Go Again” — Asleep at the Wheel featuring Lyle Lovett
“The Message” — Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Black Violin
“You and Me on the Rock” — Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius
“Made Up Mind” — Bonnie Raitt

Best American Roots Song:

“Bright Star” — Anaïs Mitchell, songwriter (Anaïs Mitchell)
“Forever” — Sheryl Crow and Jeff Trott, songwriters (Sheryl Crow)
“High and Lonesome” — T Bone Burnett and Robert Plant, songwriters (Robert Plant and Alison Krauss)
“Just Like That” — Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)
“Prodigal Daughter” — Tim O’Brien and Aoife O’Donovan, songwriters (Aoife O’Donovan and Allison Russell)
“You and Me on the Rock” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius)

Best Americana Album:

In These Silent Days — Brandi Carlile
Things Happen That Way — Dr. John
Good to Be … — Keb’ Mo’
Raise the Roof — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Just Like That… — Bonnie Raitt

ALL-GENRE

And the big four, which includes a nomination for Brandi Carlile in the Album of the Year category, and bluegrass star Molly Tuttle in the New Artist of the Year category (unfortunately, Zach didn’t make the cut in that category this year as they had previously hinted):

Record of the Year:

Don’t Shut Me Down — Abba
Easy on Me — Adele
Break My Soul — Beyoncé
Good Morning Gorgeous — Mary J. Blige
You and Me on the Rock — Brandi Carlile featuring Lucius
Woman — Doja Cat
Bad Habit — Steve Lacy
The Heart Part 5 — Kendrick Lamar
About Damn Time — Lizzo
As It Was — Harry Styles

Album of the Year:

Voyage — Abba
30 — Adele
Un Verano Sin Ti — Bad Bunny
Renaissance — Beyoncé
Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) — Mary J. Blige
In These Silent Days — Brandi Carlile
Music of the Spheres — Coldplay
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers — Kendrick Lamar
Special — Lizzo
Harry’s House — Harry Styles

Song of the Year:

“Abcdefu” — Sara Davis, Gayle and Dave Pittenger, songwriters (Gayle)
“About Damn Time” — Melissa “Lizzo” Jefferson, Eric Frederic, Blake Slatkin and Theron Makiel Thomas, songwriters (Lizzo)
“All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)” — Liz Rose and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“As It Was” — Tyler Johnson, Kid Harpoon and Harry Styles, songwriters (Harry Styles)
“Bad Habit” — Matthew Castellanos, Brittany Fousheé, Diana Gordon, John Carroll Kirby & Steve Lacy, songwriters (Steve Lacy)
“Break My Soul” — Beyoncé, S. Carter, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant and Christopher A. Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
“Easy on Me” — Adele Adkins and Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Adele)
“God Did” — Tarik Azzouz, E. Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F. LeBlanc, Shawn Carter, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts and Nicholas Warwar, songwriters (DJ Khaled Featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy)
“The Heart Part 5″ — Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar and Matt Schaeffer, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
“Just Like That” — Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

Best New Artist:

Anitta
Omar Apollo
Domi & JD Beck
Muni Long
Samara Joy
Latto
Maneskin
Tobe Nwigwe
Molly Tuttle
Wet Leg

The show will take place on February 5th at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

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