The GRAMMY Awards are heading into 2026 with a fresh face and meaningful updates. The Recording Academy has unveiled sweeping changes to award categories, ensuring a more inclusive and representative ceremony set for February 1, 2026.
The standout change? Country music now has two distinct lanes. What was previously the Best Country Album category has been split into Best Contemporary Country Album and the newly created Best Traditional Country Album. The update acknowledges the genre’s wide stylistic range—recognizing both its modern evolution and its deep-rooted heritage.
The Best Traditional Country Album category will highlight music with classic instrumentation—banjo, steel guitar, fiddle—and lyrical styles that honor the genre’s roots. Meanwhile, Best Contemporary Country Album will celebrate country artists blending traditional elements with modern sonic trends and cross-genre influences.
Another big update is the introduction of the Best Album Cover category. It revives and refocuses earlier design-related awards, now celebrating complete visual storytelling in physical music packaging. It complements the streamlined Best Recording Package, which now combines previous packaging categories.
The Recording Academy is also redefining eligibility for Best New Artist. Artists who’ve been featured on Album of the Year-nominated projects—but contributed less than 20% of total playing time—can now be considered, reflecting modern collaboration norms in music production.
These updates come after a widely praised 2025 GRAMMYs ceremony, which saw Beyoncé finally win Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter and the show make history with its inclusiveness and artistry. The Recording Academy appears committed to progress, representation, and artistic excellence as it looks toward the 68th GRAMMY Awards.
Eligible albums must be released between August 31, 2024, and August 30, 2025. Nominations will be revealed on November 7, 2025.