Photo Credit:Chris Pizzello/AP
In June 2025, The Recording Academy announced a significant restructuring of its country music award categories ahead of the 68 th Grammy Awards. Starting in 2026, the long-standing Best Country Album will be renamed Best Contemporary Country Album, and a new category—Best Traditional Country Album—will be introduced.
This change follows Beyoncé’s historic February win for Cowboy Carter, which earned her the first-ever Best Country Album Grammy as a Black woman. The album, widely praised for blending country, R&B, hip-hop, and soul, also won Album of the Year, becoming one of the most nominated and awarded records of all time.
According to Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., the category split is in line with adjustments made in other genres and reflects the evolving landscape of country music, “The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us… we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.”
The new Traditional Country Album category is defined as including acoustic instruments like fiddle, banjo, steel guitar, and fiddle, and covers subgenres like Western, Western swing, and outlaw country. Meanwhile, the renamed Contemporary Country Album category aims to encompass modern, genre-blending works that reflect today’s country scene.
Unsurprisingly, many viewed the timing of these changes as a direct response to Beyoncé’s crossover success. Critics, including some fans from Beyoncé’s Beyhive, accused the Grammys of “moving the goalpost” after Cowboy Carter, warning that the shift may reinforce genre gatekeeping and racially motivated exclusion. Some defended Beyoncé, noting that category splits are a common practice following genre-defying hits:
Beyoncé’s 2023 dance hit Break My Soul spurred the creation of a Best Pop Dance Recording category.
Supporters of the split argue it broadens recognition across the increasingly diverse and fragmented country ecosystem, boosting visibility for roots-based artists like Charley Crockett, Sierra Ferrell, and Colter Wall who might have otherwise been overshadowed. The Recording Academy pointed out that genre divisions such as this are already in place in R&B, Pop, and Blues.