Beyoncé famously said on Instagram, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” But Grammy voters respectfully disagreed: In addition to its album of the year nod, Cowboy Carter is nominated for best country album, and in four other country or Americana categories. It’s the first country album to be nominated for album of the year since Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour, which won in 2019.
Eddy Arnold’s My World (1966) was the first country album to be nominated for album of the year. Glen Campbell’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix (1969) was the first country album to win in that category.
The Chicks have had three album of the year nominations, more than any other country act. Taylor Swift (in her country period) had two. Linda Ronstadt also had two, counting the Trio album, on which she collaborated with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Harris and Alison Krauss also had two, counting the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, on which they both were featured.
We define a country album as any album that made Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. That rather low threshold for what constitutes a country album brought in Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down. The album peaked at No. 55 on Top Country Albums in 1984, but a subsequent Richie album, Tuskegee, spent four weeks at No. 1 on that chart.
Here are all the country albums that have received Grammy nominations for album of the year. They are shown in chronological order. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremonies.
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Eddy Arnold, My World (1966)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (17 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 7
Notes: Arnold received four nominations for this album and its smash single “Make the World Go Away,” which exemplified the “countrypolitan” sound. Three of those nominations were in categories that still used the terminology “country & western,” which would soon seem dated. The album also spawned the hits “What’s He Doing in My World” and “I’m Letting You Go.”
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Bobbie Gentry, Ode to Billie Joe (1968)
Image Credit: Bettmann/GI Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (three weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (two weeks)
Notes: This album bumped the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. How’d it do that? The title track was one of the most talked-about singles of its time, as people tried to piece together exactly what happened up on Choctaw Ridge that drove Billy Joe MacAllister to jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Gentry (shown here with Glen Campbell and Lalo Schifrin) became the first person in Grammy history to receive nominations in each of the Big Four categories in the same year. Of the Big Four, she won only best new artist. She also won best vocal performance, female and best contemporary female solo vocal performance, both for “Ode to Billie Joe.” The album spawned two other singles: “I Saw an Angel Die” and “Mississippi Delta.”
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Glen Campbell, By the Time I Get to Phoenix (1969)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 15
Notes: This was the first country album to win album of the year. Campbell had won two Grammys the previous year for his tender performance of the title song, which was voted best vocal performance, male and best contemporary male solo vocal performance. The exquisite ballad (written by Jimmy Webb) had received Grammy nods for record and song of the year the previous year. The album also included Campbell’s follow-up hit, “Hey Little One.”
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Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1970)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (20 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Notes: This is the only live album by a country artist to receive an album of the year nomination. Cash won a Grammy for best country vocal performance, male for the novelty hit “A Boy Named Sue,” which also received a Grammy nod for record of the year.
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Charlie Rich, Behind Closed Doors (1974)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (21 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 8
Notes: Rich won his only Grammy for the classy title song, which was voted best country vocal performance, male. The track also received nominations for record and song of the year. The album spawned two other hits, “I Take It on Home” and “The Most Beautiful Girl.” The latter was a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100.
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John Denver, Back Home Again (1975)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (13 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)
Notes: This was Denver’s first Grammy nomination in any category. It’s unusual that the album was up for album of the year, but Denver wasn’t recognized in any other categories. The album spawned three hits: “Annie’s Song,” the title song and “Sweet Surrender.” In addition, a live version of another song from the album, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” topped the Hot 100 in 1975 and landed a Grammy nod for best country vocal performance, male, in 1976.
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Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel (1976)
Image Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via GI Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)
Notes: Ronstadt (shown here at the Grammy ceremony with her producer/manager, Peter Asher) won her first of 11 Grammys for “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You),” which was voted best country vocal performance, female. The album spawned three other singles: “You’re No Good” (her only No. 1 on the Hot 100), “When Will I Be Loved” and “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore.”
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Eagles, Hotel California (1978)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 10
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (eight weeks)
Notes: Like Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down, this isn’t primarily a country album — though as you can see, it made the top 10 on Top Country Albums. The title song became the first rock track to win a Grammy for record of the year. It was also nominated for song of the year. The album spawned two other hits: the sublime “New Kid in Town” (which won best arrangement for voices) and the rock anthem “Life in the Fast Lane.”
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Kenny Rogers, The Gambler (1980)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (23 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 12
Notes: The title track received a Grammy nod for record of the year and won for best country vocal performance, male. The album spawned a second smash, the poignant “She Believes in Me,” which received Grammy nods for song of the year and best pop vocal performance, male.
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Lionel Richie, Can’t Slow Down (1985)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 55
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (three weeks)
Notes: You probably wouldn’t have expected to see this album on this list. But Can’t Slow Down cracked Top Country Albums — largely on the strength of the country-tinged ballad “Stuck on You,” which rose to No. 24 on Hot Country Songs. Richie’s music has always blended strains of country, R&B and pop. His 2012 album Tuskegee, on which he was joined by an array of top country stars, logged four weeks at No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Can’t Slow Down belongs on this list, in the interest of completeness and general interest, but we’re not going to call it the second country album to win album of the year (though it did indeed win that award), because it wasn’t primarily a country album. Two songs from the album, “All Night Long (All Night)” and “Hello,” were nominated for song of the year and best pop vocal performance, male in successive years. “All Night Long” was also nominated for record of the year in the first year.
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Dolly Parton/Linda Ronstadt/Emmylou Harris, Trio (1988)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (five weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 6
Notes: Though this didn’t win album of the year, it won best country performance by a duo or group with vocal. The album spawned four singles: “Telling Me Lies,” “Those Memories of You,” “Wildflowers” and a remake of The Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958.
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Shania Twain, Come on Over (1999)
Image Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via GI Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (50 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 2
Notes: Twain won four Grammys for this album across two years. In the first year, “You’re Still the One” won best female country vocal performance and best country song; in the second, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” won best female country vocal performance and “Come on Over” won best country song. “You’re Still the One” also received Grammy nods for record and song of the year. “You’ve Got a Way” was nominated for song of the year the following year. The other singles from the album were “Love Gets Me Every Time,” “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You),” “From This Moment On,” “When,” “Honey, I’m Home,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Rock This Country!” and “I’m Holdin’ On to Love (To Save My Life).”
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The Chicks, Fly (2000)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (36 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Notes: Though this didn’t win album of the year, it won best country album. The group also won best country performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Ready to Run.” The other singles from the album were “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Goodbye Earl,” “Cold Day in July,” “Without You,” “If I Fall You’re Going Down with Me,” “Heartbreak Town” and “Some Days You Gotta Dance.”
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Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (2002)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (35 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week)
Notes: This was the second country album to win album of the year. In addition, it won best compilation soundtrack album for a motion picture, television or other visual media. Two tracks from the album won Grammys. Ralph Stanley’s “O Death” was voted best male country vocal performance. The Soggy Bottom Boys’ “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” won best country collaboration with vocals. The trio consisted of Dan Tyminski, Harley Allen and Pat Enright.
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The Chicks, Home (2003)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (19 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Notes: Though this didn’t win album of the year, it won best country album. In addition, the group won best country performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Long Time Gone” and best country instrumental performance for “Lil’ Jack Slade.” The other singles from the album were “Travelin’ Soldier,” “Godspeed (Sweet Dreams),” “Top of the World” and a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”
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The Chicks, Taking the Long Way (2007)
Image Credit: M. Caulfield/WireImage Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (nine weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (three weeks)
Notes: This was the third country album to win album of the year. It also won best country album. The lead single, “Not Ready to Make Nice,” won record and song of the year and best country performance by a duo or group with vocal. Grammy voters rallied behind the group which had suffered a backlash amid controversy over Natalie Maines’ harsh comments about President George W. Bush. The other singles from the album were “Everybody Knows,” “Voice Inside My Head,” “Easy Silence” and “The Long Way Around.”
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Vince Gill, These Days (2008)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 4
Billboard 200 peak: No. 17
Notes: Though this four-disk box set didn’t win album of the year, it won best country album. Three singles were released from the collection: “The Reason Why” (featuring Alison Krauss), “What You Give Away” (featuring Sheryl Crow) and “How Lonely Looks.”
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Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raising Sand (2009)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 2
Billboard 200 peak: No. 2
Notes: This was the fourth country album to win album of the year. It also won best contemporary folk/Americana album, while four tracks from the album won Grammys. “Please Read the Letter” took record of the year, “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” and “Rich Woman” won back-to-back awards for best pop collaboration with vocals and “Killing the Blues” won best country collaboration with vocals.
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Taylor Swift, Fearless (2010)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (35 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (11 weeks)
Notes: This was the fifth country album to win album of the year. It also won best country album, while “White Horse” won best country song and best female country vocal performance. “You Belong With Me” received Grammy nods for record and song of the year. The album spawned three additional singles: “Love Story,” “Fifteen” and the title track.
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Lady A, Need You Now (2011)
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/GI Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (31 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Notes: Though this didn’t win album of the year, it won best country album. And the poignant title track won four Grammys — record and song of the year, best country song and best country performance by a duo or group with vocals. The album spawned three additional singles: “American Honey,” “Our Kind of Love” and “Hello World.”
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Taylor Swift, Red (2014)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1(16 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1(seven weeks)
Notes: This album didn’t win a single Grammy — though nine years later, a short film for an expanded version of “All Too Well,” one of the most prized songs from Red, won best music video. The album’s lead single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” was nominated for record of the year the year before the album was eligible. The album spawned six additional singles: “Begin Again,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “22,” the title track, “Everything Has Changed” and “The Last Time.”
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Chris Stapleton, Traveller (2016)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (29 weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (two weeks)
Notes: Though this didn’t win album of the year, it won best country album. Stapleton won a second award for the title track, which was voted best country solo performance. Other singles from the album were “Nobody to Blame” and “Parachute.”
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Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth (2017)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (one week)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 3
Notes: Though this didn’t win album of the year, it won best country album. The album spawned three singles: “Brace for Impact (Live a Little),” “In Bloom” and “Keep It Between the Lines.”
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Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour (2019)
Image Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/GI Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (two weeks)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 4
Notes: This was the sixth country album to win album of the year. It also won best country album, while “Butterflies” took country solo performance and “Space Cowboy” won best country song. The other singles from the album were “High Horse,” “Slow Burn” and “Rainbow.”
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Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (2025)
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (two weeks)
Top Country Albums peak: No. 1 (four weeks)
Notes: In addition to its album of the year nod, Cowboy Carter is nominated for best country album. The album’s lead single, “Texas Hold ’Em” is nominated for best country song. “16 Carriages,” which was released on the same day as “Texas Hold ’Em,” is nominated for best country solo performance – while the follow-up single, “II Most Wanted,” featuring Miley Cyrus, is nominated for best country duo/group performance, and “Ya Ya” is nominated for best Americana performance.