What Country Music Fans Should Know Ahead of the 2018 Grammy Awards

The 2018 Grammy Awards are just days away, and the stars are heading to New York City to prepare for the annual ceremony.

The show will see stars from pop, rock, rap and country combine to celebrate the thing that unites them, with plenty of country artists on hand for the event as well.

Airing live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Jan. 28 at 7:30 ET, the awards will be hosted by James Corden and see stars from all genres come together to celebrate music’s biggest night.

Here, everything a country music fan should know when tuning into the show.

The performances

While no country artists scored a nod in the all-genre categories of Record, Album, Song and Best New Artist of the Year, the genre categories have some solid competition from some of country’s biggest stars.

Chris Stapleton leads the way with three nominations while Little Big Town, Sam Hunt, Midland, Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert all scored two nods each. Acts including Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Brothers Osborne, Zac Brown Band, Alison Krauss and Kenny Chesney round out the country categories, while other acts including Reba McEntire are nominated in the gospel and Americana categories.

The nominations

While no country artists were nominated in the four all-genre categories of Record, Album, Song and Best New Artist of the Year, there’s plenty of competition in the country categories from some of the genre’s biggest stars, while artists like Reba McEntire are representing in other categories as well. 

Chris Stapleton leads the way with three nominations while Little Big Town, Sam Hunt, Midland, Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert all scored two nods each. Acts including Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Brothers Osborne, Zac Brown Band, Alison Krauss and Kenny Chesney round out the categories.

Best Country Solo Performance

• “Body Like A Back Road”—Sam Hunt
• “Losing You”—Alison Krauss
• “Tin Man”—Miranda Lambert
• “I Could Use A Love Song”—Maren Morris
• “Either Way”—Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

• “It Ain’t My Fault”—Brothers Osborne
• “My Old Man”—Zac Brown Band
• “You Look Good”—Lady Antebellum
• “Better Man”—Little Big Town
• “Drinkin’ Problem”—Midland

Best Country Song

• “Better Man”—Taylor Swift (Little Big Town)
• “Body Like A Back Road”—Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne (Sam Hunt)
• “Broken Halos”—Mike Henderson & Chris Stapleton (Chris Stapleton)
• “Drinkin’ Problem”—Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne & Mark Wystrach (Midland)
• “Tin Man”—Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & Jon Randall (Miranda Lambert)

The awards for best song are awarded to the songwriters, meaning Taylor Swift could show up to take this trophy home.

Best Country Album

• Cosmic Hallelujah—Kenny Chesney
• Heart Break—Lady Antebellum
• The Breaker—Little Big Town
• Life Changes—Thomas Rhett
• From A Room: Volume 1—Chris Stapleton

The nomination marks the first solo for Chesney, who has released 17 studio albums.

Best Roots Gospel Album

• The Best Of The Collingsworth Family – Volume 1—The Collingsworth Family
• Give Me Jesus—Larry Cordle
• Resurrection—Joseph Habedank
• Sing It Now: Songs Of Faith & Hope—Reba McEntire
• Hope For All Nations—Karen Peck & New River

Reba McEntire is nominated in this category for the first time thanks to her 2017 effort.

Best American Roots Performance

• “Killer Diller Blues”—Alabama Shakes
• “Let My Mother Live”—Blind Boys Of Alabama
• “Arkansas Farmboy”—Glen Campbell
• “Steer Your Way”—Leonard Cohen
• “I Never Cared For You”—Alison Krauss

The late Glen Campbell is nominated here for this track from his final studio album Adiós, which was released in 2017 just months ahead of his death.

Best American Roots Song

• “Cumberland Gap”—David Rawlings & Gillian Welch (David Rawlings)
• “I Wish You Well”—Raul Malo & Alan Miller (The Mavericks)
• “If We Were Vampires”—Jason Isbell (Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit)
• “It Ain’t Over Yet”—Rodney Crowell (Rodney Crowell Featuring Rosanne Cash & John Paul White)
• “My Only True Friend”—Gregg Allman & Scott Sharrard (Gregg Allman)

Best Americana Album

• Southern Blood—Gregg Allman
• Shine On Rainy Day—Brent Cobb
• Beast Epic—Iron & Wine
• The Nashville Sound—Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
• Brand New Day—The Mavericks

Best Bluegrass Album

• Fiddler’s Dream—Michael Cleveland
• Laws Of Gravity—The Infamous Stringdusters
• Original—Bobby Osborne
• Universal Favorite—Noam Pikelny
• All The Rage: In Concert Volume One [Live]—Rhonda Vincent And The Rage

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