The nominees for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Country Album would be the first to win in the new category. You'd think they would want to be there for the history-making event should they win.
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The nominees for the honor were Kelsea Ballerini for Patterns, Tyler Childers' Snipe Hunter, Jelly Roll for Beautifully Broken, Miranda Lambert's Postcards from Texas, and Eric Church for Evangeline vs. the Machine.
However, one of the contenders was noticeably absent from the ceremony: Eric Church. He shared the reason why on social media.
Eric Church Says He Was "Disappointed"
The "Springsteen" singer posted a message on Instagram explaining why he wouldn't be at the Crypto.com Arena for the ceremony on Feb. 1.
"I'm so disappointed to miss the Grammy Awards tonight due to illness," wrote Church. "I've tried everything possible to be there in person, and unfortunately, I just can't do it. I wishthe best of luck to all the nominees and respect greatly what this honor means and stands for in the music community. I'm gonna rest up and see everybody in Omaha next week."
This New Award Category Was Controversial
While Church mentioned that he respected "greatly" what the nomination meant, it seemed like he didn't want his absence to represent something else.
When the Recording Academy split the Best Country Album category into Contemporary and Traditional, it drew a bit of backlash after Beyoncé won Best Country Album over favorites Kacey Musgraves and Lainey Wilson.
Traditional Country is defined by the Recording Academy as music that adheres "to more traditional sound structures of the country genre," including elements like steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and live drums.
Shelly Maree, an Awards Manager at the Recording Academy who oversees the country music field, says the change had been in the works for three years.
"We've been hearing from artists for a long time," Maree explained. "They didn't feel fully reflected in the categories as they stood, neither in the existing country categories nor in the American Roots field. So this came from them: the creators, the voting members. It's been in the works for a while."
Jelly Roll was the first artist to take home the award, one of three he won last night.
