Kelsea Ballerini Defends Beyoncé’s Country Grammy Nominations for ‘Cowboy Carter’

Kelsea Ballerini thinks Beyoncé‘s country music Grammy nods are more than deserved. While visiting SiriusXM’s Fierce: Women in Music, the country star stood behind Cowboy Carter‘s industry recognition in country music categories alongside dedicated country stars.

“That category, to me, represents what country music has been this year, and that’s what the album of the year category should represent,” Ballerini told host Lori Majewski. “What has happened in country music and been successful in groundbreaking this year. I don’t really understand the other opinions other than like, it’s amazing to have huge, respected artists and other genres come in and celebrate ours.”

“I don’t understand why that would be anything but great,” she added. “You don’t have to be a country artist to make a country record,” she added. “Those don’t have to exist in the same plane.”

Ballerini’s Cowboy Carter defense comes several months after Cowboy Carter —  featuring country heavyweights from Willie Nelson to Dolly Parton — was completely snubbed from nominations at the CMA Awards last year.

Ballerini has also faced criticism for not being “country enough” in the past for her pop fusions. “There are certain things that used to really make me cry myself to sleep. One is when people said I wasn’t country, and two is losing awards,” she told SiriusXM.

At the 2025 Grammys, though, Beyoncé led the list of nominees with 11 nods for the album. Cowboy Carter is up for Album of the Year and Best Country Album, while “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the album’s lead single, earned nods for Record of the Year, Best Country Song, and Song of the Year. “16 Carriages” earned a nod for Best Country Solo Performance, her song with Miley Cyrus, “II Most Wanted,” is nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, and “Ya Ya” is up for Best Americana Performance.