Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. says it’s always “heartbreaking” when deserving artists go under-recognized at the Grammy Awards, but ultimately, the show will favor different genres based on what music voters choose in a given year.
He also said he hopes that fans don’t see the lack of representation of country music in 2026 as a political statement.
Mason Jr. recently spoke to Variety for a wide-ranging interview about this year’s Grammys ceremony, touching on topics such as longtime host Trevor Noah’s decision to depart the awards show after this year.
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He also fielded questions about why country music isn’t as prevalent on the nominees list as it has been in some previous years.
Is Country Music Being Snubbed at The 2026 Grammy Awards?
As always, country is featured in genre-specific categories on this year’s nominees list.
There’s also a new country category for 2026: The Best Country Album category has been split into Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album.
Read More: All the 2026 Grammy Awards Country Nominees
But country is completely absent from the four major all-genre categories this year. That’s a break from previous years, which typically features at least one country or country-adjacent nominee in the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year or Best New Artist categories.
What Did Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. Say About the Lack of Country Representation at the Grammys?
Mason Jr. said that the awards show typically ensures fair, balanced representation by making sure all genres are represented in its voting body.
He says they examine that voting body every year, but the previous year’s nominees list isn’t typically what they look at when making adjustments.
Read More: 19 Country Legends Who’ve Never Won a Grammy
“It’s based on, do we have a representative voting body of the different genres? And provided that we have the right percentage and ratios, then we’ll be in the right spot,” Mason Jr. explains. “We can’t tell what those people will vote for, but we can make sure that we have a representative voting body.”
Were The Grammys Making a Political Statement By Shutting Country Music Out of Major Categories?
In speaking to Mason Jr., Variety pointed out that country’s downturn in all-genre category representation could be “red meat for the right wing that country, which is so popular, was closed out of a lot of the bigger categories.”
Last fall, Billboard looked at the longstanding dissonance between country’s general popularity and its modest performance at the Grammys, describing the genre as the awards show’s “poor relation.”
The outlet pointed to a lack of Grammy love for genre superstars like Morgan Wallen (Wallen declined consideration in 2025, but a historic lack of solo nominations suggests that he might not have been nominated even if he hadn’t.)
Mike Coppola, Getty Images
But Mason Jr. insists that there’s no systemic anti-country attitude at the awards show.
“I really hope it doesn’t turn into that type of dialogue based around politics right or left, because it really is not that; it’s really about what the voters choose to vote for any given year, and it is cyclical,” he stated.
When Are the 2026 Grammy Awards?
The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 1 at Los Angeles, Calif.’s Crypto.com Arena.
The show will broadcast on CBS and be available to stream on Paramount+. Trevor Noah will host. It’s Noah’s last year hosting after a six-year run, and the awards show is also performing its final show in a five-decade-plus CBS partnership before moving to ABC, Hulu and Disney+.
19 Country Stars Who’ve Never Won a Grammy, Ranked
These 19 country singers have never won a Grammy Award, but it’s worse than that. Collectively, they’re 0-116!
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
