With the lines between genres becoming increasingly blurry, it appears that the seats at award shows are starting to get increasingly empty.
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This weekend marks the 68th Grammys. It's also the first Grammys at which country music has two separate awards for Best Album. Now, the honor is available to more artists in the ever-expanding genre, with both the Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album categories.
However, some of those nominated don't plan to attend this year. According to Page Six, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, and Morgan Wallen all intend to stay home.
Lambert is currently up for four awards, including Best Contemporary Country Album. George Strait is up for an award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his song "Honky Tonk Hall of Fame".
Morgan Wallen is not nominated, but that would make sense. Mostly because the "I'm The Problem" singer did not submit any of his music for consideration this year.
In August, it was announced that Wallen would not be submitting any of the songs he co-wrote for consideration. However, according to Billboard, he and his team were "not stopping the other songwriters from submitting their works from the album."
Commercially, "I'm The Problem" was the most commercially successful country album of the year. According to Whiskey Riff, for country, the project was "the most streamed album on Apple Music and Spotify in the U.S." this year. So, what exactly is "the problem?"
A Brief History of Wallen Being "Snubbed" From the Grammy's
Why would Wallen not submit himself for consideration?
This is a loaded question, but not one without an answer. The truth is, the friction between Wallen and the Grammy Awards has been going on for some time now. Back in 2021, the singer was disqualified from the show cycle. This was related to his racial slur incident that year, Fox News explains.
In 2022, Wallen's team submitted his album Dangerous: The Double Album for eight categories. The singer did not receive a single nomination, says Country Now.
Last year, Wallen received two nominations for his collaboration with Post Malone for "I Had Some Help", but did not win in either category. This was his first time actually being nominated.
This year, Hits Daily Double broke the news from sources in the Nashville area. "The Academy's gatekeepers, you'll recall, have never been particularly receptive to Wallen," a source explained. "Though those who ought to know tell us there was no rancor in the decision, which they described as a measured 'No, thank you.'"
One source declares that Wallen isn't the only one that feels a need to step back. "A lot of country artists are not going..." they explain. "They think the Grammys don't give a f-k about country music."
