Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Grammy win briefly appeared under a different category on the Grammys’ website, sparking confusion about how the historic victory was being recorded. Beyoncé originally won Best Country Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025. The website later listed the win under Best Contemporary Country Album before the listing was changed back.
The Grammys listed ‘Cowboy Carter’ under Best Contemporary Country Album, then changed later
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter win appeared to have been relabeled on the Grammys website. After the album won Best Country Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025, the award was recently listed as Best Contemporary Country Album. The change came after the Recording Academy renamed Best Country Album as Best Contemporary Country Album for the 2026 Grammys. Moreover, they introduced a separate Best Traditional Country Album category.
The Academy’s official 2025 winners list originally identified Cowboy Carter as the winner of Best Country Album. Its current artist page, however, lists the 2025 victory under Best Contemporary Country Album.
The apparent change quickly became a topic of discussion on Reddit. One user wrote, “It looks like they’ve now changed it back to best country album,” while another suggested that the change could have been a coding or website error rather than an intentional decision.
Other commenters speculated about the reason for the change, with some making accusations about racism. Those comments remain speculation. There is no evidence in the available information establishing that the website change was motivated by race.
Another Reddit user offered context suggesting that Beyoncé may not have been the only artist affected. They wrote that “everyone who won Best Country Album got their win switched to Best Contemporary Country Album” and shared a screenshot showing Willie Nelson’s win before the listings were corrected.
The category change has its roots in an official Grammy rule change. For the 2026 ceremony, the Recording Academy renamed Best Country Album as Best Contemporary Country Album and created Best Traditional Country Album as a new category. The Academy described the change as a way to distinguish contemporary and traditional country recordings.
As of the 2025 Grammys, Beyoncé had 35 wins and 99 nominations. The Recording Academy says she holds the records for both the most Grammy wins. She also has the most Grammy nominations by an artist.
