Zach Top picked up his first Grammy win on Sunday (Feb. 1) during the pre-telecast Grammy Premiere Ceremony, making him the inaugural winner in the best traditional country album category for his sophomore country set Ain’t In It for My Health.
“I feel like I watched the Grammys as a little kid and it looked like superheroes on TV so to be up here and be a part of the whole thing is insane,” Top said said after taking the stage. He also thanked his family, producer Carson Chamberlain, his management, road crew and more. “Thanks for letting me be here, this is amazing.”
Like its predecessor, Cold Beer and Country Music, Ain’t In It for My Health was largely co-written and helmed by Chamberlain, known for his work as a bandleader and musician for Keith Whitley, as well as a tour manager for Alan Jackson and Clint Black.
Top earned a total of three nominations this year, also including best country song and best country solo performance, both for his Country Airplay top five hit “I Never Lie.”
Top’s win comes as the Recording Academy made a shift in its best country album category, splitting it into two categories: best contemporary country album and best traditional country album. The shift puts the country album category in line with other genres categories, such as R&B and blues, which already recognize traditional and contemporary styles, while also offering more nominee slots to showcase a fuller spectrum of country music’s sounds.
Top’s fellow nominees in the inaugural year of the best traditional country album category were Charley Crockett (for A Dollar A Day), Lukas Nelson (American Romance), Willie Nelson (Oh What A Beautiful World) and Margo Price (Hard Headed Woman). Meanwhile, the contemporary country album category includes Kelsea Ballerini’s Patterns, Tyler Childers’ Snipe Hunter, Eric Church’s Evangeline vs. The Machine, Jelly Roll’s Beautifully Broken and Miranda Lambert’s Postcards From Texas.
The Recording Academy’s Harvey Mason jr. recently reflected on the country album category split to Billboard, saying, “Genres are changing so quickly. Things are coming together, genres are blending, new things are cropping up, global music is happening. So we’re going to have to be very diligent about our awards and our categories, because of all the change and evolution happening in the way music is made, the way people are creating it and collaboratively, the way it’s coming out from different places around the globe.”
Sunday afternoon’s Premiere Ceremony also honored other early country category winners. Shaboozey and Jelly Roll won for their song “Amen,” in the best country/duo group performance category. Tyler Childers’ “Bitin’ List” picked up best county song, while Chris Stapleton’s “Bad As I Used to Be” (from the F1 soundtrack) won best country solo performance.
