The online ballot has gone out to Grammy voters to nominate artists for next year’s awards, and a popular artist was surprisingly missing from the list: Zach Bryan.
Variety reports that Bryan declined to submit his music for consideration in any category for the 2025 Grammy Awards. Sources reportedly told the publication that Bryan didn’t submit his music because “he does not feel comfortable with awards shows making music competitive.”
Bryan has made the call after winning his first Grammy earlier this year. At the 2024 Grammy Awards, Bryan and his collaborator, Kacey Musgraves, took home the Best Country Duo/Group Performance award for their duet, I Remember Everything.
Prior to pulling his name for consideration and winning the Grammy Award, Bryan received four nominations: he was nominated for three awards last year and one the year before. All the nominations were in the country music categories, although he doesn’t consider himself a country artist.
Bryan does things differently in music, famously not enjoying music industry machinations. The Something In The Orange singer has asked his label, Warner, not to promote his songs like they would any other artist, and he refuses to send his songs to country (or pop) radio.
However, Bryan's refusal to go along with the music industry doesn’t mean his popularity has declined.
Bryan was recently nominated for 16 awards at this year’s People’s Choice Country Awards (winning one), and his fans frequently listen to his music. Three of his albums are currently in the top 20 of the Billboard 200. His latest LP, The Great American Bar Scene, is at #11.
In terms of live shows, Bryan has never been more successful: the singer moved 467,000 tickets in August alone in the US. In April 2025, Bryan will headline the massive California-based country music festival Stagecoach, along with Jelly Roll and Luke Combs.
By boycotting Grammy Awards consideration, Bryan is in a small group with R&B and hip-hop artists The Weeknd and Drake.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
