:Grammy Award for Best Country Album
{{Short description|Annual award}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Grammy Award for Best Country Album
| awarded_for = quality albums in the country music genre
| image = Beyoncé - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - 1st June 2023 (25 of 118) (52946287590) (center cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 100px
| alt = A gold gramophone trophy with a plaque set on a table
| caption = Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé is the most recent recipient.
| presenter = National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
| country = United States
| year = 1965
| year2 =
| holder = Beyoncé,
Cowboy Carter (2025)
| website = [http://www.grammy.com/ grammy.com]
| image_upright =
}}
The Grammy Award for Best Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,{{cite news|url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/grammys/env-grammy_awards_info,0,5279018.htmlstory?track=center|title=Grammy Awards at a Glance|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 24, 2010}} to recording artists for quality albums in the country music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".{{cite web|url=http://www2.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/|title=Overview|access-date=April 24, 2010|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103173212/http://www2.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/|archive-date=January 3, 2011|df=mdy-all}}
The award was first presented under the name of Best Country & Western Album in 1966 to Roger Miller for Dang Me/Chug-A-Lug and was discontinued the following year. In 1995 the category was revived and received its current denomination of Best Country Album. According to the category description guide for the 66th Grammy Awards (2024), the award is presented to vocal or instrumental country albums containing at least 51% playing time of new recordings, and the Grammy is awarded to the artist and producer, and to the engineer/mixer of greater than 50% playing time of the album.{{Cite web |date=12 November 2024 |title=66th Grammy Rules and Guidelines Book |url=https://naras.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/66_Rulebook_9.20 |access-date= |website=www.grammy.com |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112221428/https://naras.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/66_Rulebook_9.20 |url-status=dead }} (The list of nominees only mentions Artists).
The Dixie Chicks are the most awarded performers in this category with four wins, followed by Chris Stapleton who has three wins. Two-time award winners include Roger Miller, Lady A, Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert. Canadian singer Shania Twain is the only non-American winner in this category, to date. Trisha Yearwood holds the record for most nominations, with eight. Yearwood also holds the record for most nominations without a win. The current holder of the award is Beyonce, the first black artist, who won at the 67th Grammy Awards with her eighth studio album Cowboy Carter.
Recipients
File:ShaniaTwain3.jpg is the first and so far only non-American winner.]]
File:DixieChicksMSG062003.jpg the most awarded performers with four wins.]]
File:Vince_Gill.png received the award in 2008 as has eight additional nominations in this category. He is, to date, the most awarded male country artist at the Grammys.]]
File:George Strait on stage.jpg]]
File:Taylor Swift Sydney.jpg received three nominations in this category. Her album, Fearless, won this award and Album of the Year in 2010. She is also the only act to win the Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Country Album.]]
File:Lady A - Charlotte 12-27-12-39.jpg, three-time nominees and 2011 and 2012 winners]]
File:Kacey Musgraves - Palace Theatre St. Paul (46248441824) (cropped).jpg]]
File:Stapleton ACL 20161002005.jpg]]
File:Beyoncé - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - 1st June 2023 (10 of 118) (52946364598) (best crop).jpg is the first black artist to win the award. Her album, Cowboy Carter also won Album of the Year in 2025. She is also the only act to win the Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Urban Contemporary Album, and Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Country Album.]]
{{note|1|[I]}} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
Artists with multiple wins
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
;4 wins
{{col-break}}
;3 wins
{{col-break}}
;2 wins
{{col-end}}
Artists with multiple nominations
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
;8 nominations
;7 nominations
- Miranda Lambert (1 with Pistol Annies)
;6 nominations
;5 nominations
;4 nominations
{{col-break}}
;3 nominations
- Dierks Bentley
- Zac Brown Band
- Eric Church
- Brandy Clark
- Jamey Johnson
- Lady Antebellum
- Patty Loveless
- Ashley McBryde
- Taylor Swift
- Shania Twain
- Keith Urban
- Lee Ann Womack
- Dwight Yoakam
{{col-break}}
;2 nominations
- Jason Aldean
- Asleep at the Wheel
- Chet Atkins
- Brothers Osborne
- Johnny Cash
- Alison Krauss
- Lyle Lovett
- Loretta Lynn
- Reba McEntire
- Roger Miller
- Maren Morris
- Brad Paisley
- Dolly Parton
- Jim Reeves
- Thomas Rhett
- Blake Shelton
- Sturgill Simpson
- Hank Williams Jr.
- Gretchen Wilson
- Lainey Wilson
- Ashley Monroe (1 with Pistol Annies)
- Kelsea Ballerini
{{col-end}}
See also
References
{{refbegin}}
;General
- {{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search|title=Past Winners Search|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|access-date=March 4, 2011}} Note: User must select the "Country" category as the genre under the search feature.
- {{cite web|url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/grammy/countryalbum.htm|title=Grammy Awards: Best Country Album|publisher=Rock on the Net|access-date=July 12, 2010}}
;Specific
{{refend}}
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Country Album}}
{{Grammy Award years}}
{{Grammy Award categories}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grammy Award For Best Country Album}}