As far as performers go, country music will be very well-represented at the 2026 Grammy awards, which are slated to take place this Sunday, February 1st live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The main ceremony airs at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+, with Trevor Noah taking over as host once again. This afternoon, the recording academy announced several country performers, which features Lukas Nelson, Reba, and Brandy Clark teaming up for the in memoriam tribute in honor of all of those who were part of the music community that passed away over the last year.
They’re all three incredibly talented artists, and I have no doubt this will be a highlight as far as the performances go:
“Lukas Nelson joins Reba and Brandy Clark for an in memoriam tribute honoring those we lost over the past year at the 2026 GRAMMYS.”
Lukas is also a nominee at this years Grammys, as he is up for the brand new country category called Best Traditional Country Album. The previously titled Best Country Album category has been changed to Best Contemporary Country Album, so there will be two opportunities for some of your favorite country artists to win one of music’s most prestigious awards.
The Best Traditional Country Album category is stacked, and we have Charley Crockett’s Dollar A Day, Margo Price’s Hard Headed Woman, Zach Top’s Ain’t In It For My Health, Luka’s American Romance and Willie’s, Oh What A Beautiful World all up for the award. Yes, the category is 40% Nelson, and it’s only the second time in history that’s happened at the Grammys, in terms of a father and son both being nominated in the same category for different albums. It’s the first time for a country father/son duo.
The only other time it happened in another genre was in 1998, when Julio Iglesias and his son Enrique Iglesias were both nominated for Best Latin Pop Album, though neither one of them won it, as the award went to Luis Miguel. Funny enough, Julio and Willie have worked together in the past, on their hit song “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before.”
And while it’s the most competitive category for the country genre this year in my humble opinion, Lukas says he doesn’t view it that way. In interview with the Los Angeles Times, he says he views it as being nominated “alongside” his dad, rather than being up “against” him:
“‘Against’ is a strong word. Alongside’ is better. I mean, the Nelsons have a 40% chance of winning, which is pretty good.”
Considering they’re both incredible albums, I think that’s a great way of looking at it, and the odds are certainly in their favor when it comes to one for the Nelsons winning this category for the first time, and I’m really hoping one of them takes it home, though in my humble opinion, Lukas’ American Romance is the easy standout.
Post Malone, who has very much become a part of the country music world since releasing his 2024 album F-1 Trillion, will also be part of a tribute to the late, great Ozzy Osbourne which I’m sure will be stellar. He and Ozzy previously put out a duet called “Take What You Want” on Post’s 2019 record Hollywood’s Bleeding, and he can do any genre so well, so I’m really looking forward to this performance as well:
Country music is noticeably absent in the big four all-genre categories at the Grammys this year in Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, though the country specific categories have some great nominees so I’m sure at least one or two of your favorite artists will take home an award on Sunday.
You can view the full list of country nominees below.
COUNTRY
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 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 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 And 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 and Chris Stapleton)
AMERICANA/ROOTS
Best American Roots Performance
“LONELY AVENUE,” Jon Batiste Featuring Randy Newman
“Ancient Light,” I’m With Her
“Crimson and Clay,” Jason Isbell
“Richmond on the James,” Alison Krauss & Union Station
“Beautiful Strangers,” Mavis Staples
Best Americana Performance
“Boom,” Sierra Hull
“Poison in My Well,” Maggie Rose & Grace Potter
“Godspeed,” Mavis Staples
“That’s Gonna Leave a Mark,” Molly Tuttle
“Horses,” Jesse Welles
Best American Roots Song
“Ancient Light,” Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)
“BIG MONEY,” Jon Batiste, Mike Elizondo & Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Foxes in the Snow,” Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell)
“Middle,” Jesse Welles, songwriter (Jesse Welles)
“Spitfire,” Sierra Hull, songwriter (Sierra Hull)
Best Americana Album
BIG MONEY, Jon Batiste
Bloom, Larkin Poe
Last Leaf on the Tree, Willie Nelson
So Long Little Miss Sunshine, Molly Tuttle
Middle, Jesse Welles
Best Bluegrass Album
Carter & Cleveland, Michael Cleveland & Jason Carter
A Tip Toe High Wire, Sierra Hull
Arcadia, Alison Krauss & Union Station
Outrun, The Steeldrivers
Highway Prayers, Billy Strings
ALL-GENRE
Record of the Year
DtMF, Bad Bunny
Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter
Anxiety, Doechii
WILDFLOWER, Billie Eilish
Abracadabra, Lady Gaga
Luther, Kendrick Lamar With SZA
The Subway, Chappell Roan
APT., ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
Album of the Year
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Bad Bunny
SWAG, Justin Bieber
Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter
Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
MAYHEM, Lady Gaga
GNX, Kendrick Lamar
MUTT, Leon Thomas
CHROMAKOPIA, Tyler, The Creator
Song of the Year
Abracadabra, Henry Walter, Lady Gaga & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
Anxiety, Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)
APT., Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Henry Walter, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park & Theron Thomas, songwriters (ROSÉ, Bruno Mars)
DtMF, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Scott Dittrich,, Benjamin Falik, Roberto José Rosado Torres, Marco Daniel Borrero, Hugo René Sención Sanabria & Tyler Thomas Spry, songwriters (Bad Bunny)
Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”], EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)
Luther, Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew, Bernard, Ink, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Kendrick Lamar, Mark Anthony Spears, Solána Rowe & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar With SZA)
Manchild, Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)
WILDFLOWER, Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist
Olivia Dean
KATSEYE
The Marias
Addison Rae
Sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young
