Grammys 2019: Country Stars React to Nominations

The nominations for the 2019 Grammy Awards were announced on Friday, Dec. 7, and a number of country artists earned nods for the show’s country categories as well as several of the highly coveted all-genre categories.

After the nominations were announced, stars began reacting to the honor on social media, with many using various platforms to share their excitement.

Kelsea Ballerini, whose Unapologetically was nominated for Best Country Album, shared a moving post in which she explained that while she had accepted the fact that her album wasn’t critically acclaimed, she was thrilled to have been recognized by the Recording Academy.

“It’s been out for over a year, and it’s never been nominated, but the bond it gave you and I was something I hadn’t felt before,” she wrote on Instagram of the project. “To me, that was the award and I had accepted that critically, it didn’t land like it did between us…But, the pinnacle of music lovers and listeners just nominated Unapologetically for a damn GRAMMY.”

She also posted video of a FaceTime call with her mom during which she got to share the good news.

Maren Morris scored five nominations this year, including two nods for her EDM collaboration with Zedd and Grey, “The Middle” as well as a nomination for Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

“What… the hell,” she wrote before expanding on her feelings in a second tweet.

Dan + Shay scored a nod for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their song “Tequila” while group member Dan Smyers was also nominated for Best Country Song for helping to pen the tune. On Twitter, Smyers and bandmate Shay Mooney revealed that they had met six years ago on Dec. 7, the same day they were nominated for their very first Grammy Awards.

Margo Price, who was nominated for Best New Artist, tweeted that she woke up to her “phone blowing up.”

Brothers Osborne scored two nods — one for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Shoot Me Straight” and another for Best Country Album for Port Saint Joe — and called the recognition “unreal.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Roy Rochlin