The Grammys definitely got this award right.
The “country music Jesus”, “savior” or also known as Alan Jackson’s son of traditional country music, Zach Top, had a great night at the 2026 Grammy Awards. Back in June of 2025, the Recording Academy announced a little change. They announced that for the first time ever, they would be adding a fifth and final country category in the form of Best Traditional Country Album.
Despite reports claiming that the Recording Academy intentionally added the Traditional Country category in direct response to the controversy of Beyoncé’s win in 2025 Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy CEO, noted that prominent members of the alternative country community had been pushing for the creation of the category for years.
“The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored. They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.”
Regardless of what they say…this category was absolutely created because of the Beyoncé backlash that happened helped create this Traditional Country category…and it paid off for Zach in a big way.
“This is insane. I feel like [when] I watched the Grammys as a little kid, [they] looked like superheroes up on TV. To be here and be a little part of the whole thing is insane. I want to thank the Lord and Savior and family, Carson Chamberlain, my manager, Mike Doyle, who’s here with me, my girlfriend, Amelia, my label, everybody on my team, my road band.
This is absolutely insane. I’m so thankful. Thanks for letting me be here. This is amazing. Have a great night.”