– Album of the Year : Cowboy Carter – Artist(s), featured artist(s), songwriter(s) of new material, and producers, engineers, and mixers involved in at least 20% of its playing time.
– Record of the Year: Texas Hold ‘E* – To artist(s), producer(s), recording engineer(s), and/or mixer(s) for the year’s best recorded single.
– Song of the Year:Texas Hold ‘Em – Recognizes a songwriter(s) who created the lyric, melody, and composition notable from a body of work written specifically for the finished recorded song.
– Best Pop Solo Performance: Bodyguard – To a single artist, crew, or other personnel for an outstanding new vocal or instrumental pop recording.
– Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Levii’s Jeans (feat. Post Malone); awarded to the best collaborative pop performance by two or more artists.
– Best Melodic Rap Performance: Spaghettii (feat. Linda Martell and Shaboozey); honors a solo or collaborative performance which incorporates R&B melodies and rapping.
– Best Country Solo Performance: 16 Carriages; the performing artist in the best vocal or instrumental solo country recording.
–Country Duo/Group Performance, Best: II Most Wanted (feat. Miley Cyrus) Honours the best new vocal or instrumental country collaboration
– Country Song, Best: Texas Hold ‘Em Writers of the song that is viewed as the best in country category
–Country Album, Best: Cowboy Carter This award goes to albums that consist of at least 75 percent of their runtime in new country recordings.
– Best Americana Performance: Ya Ya – Honors a single or track that exemplifies artistic excellence in the Americana genre, incorporating influences from country, folk, blues, and bluegrass.
Beyoncé is up for Album of the Year with Cowboy Carter, becoming the first Black woman to gain this country-album nomination. This is the first time any Black artist has received this Album of the Year nomination in country music. The last such nomination was for Ray Charles back in 1962 for Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.
Only three Black women have ever taken the top prize: Natalie Cole for *Unforgettable. with Love* in 1992, Whitney Houston for *The Bodyguard Soundtrack* in 1994, and Lauryn Hill for *The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill* in 1999. Beyoncé entered the contest four times previously for *I Am. Sasha Fierce*, *Beyoncé*, *Lemonade*, and *Renaissance*, but she finally got her hands on the prize this time.
