The first-ever winner of Finest Up to date Nation Album was introduced through the 2026 Grammy Awards.
Jelly Roll took dwelling the accolade for Fantastically Damaged through the Sunday, February 1, awards present at Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles.
“Initially, Jesus, I hear you and I’m listening, Lord. I’m listening, Lord,” Jelly Roll, 41, started in his acceptance speech. “Second of all, I wanna thank my lovely spouse. I might have by no means modified my life with out you. I might have ended up lifeless or in jail, I might have killed myself if it wasn’t for you. I thanks for that.”
After thanking his label, the nation star shared extra concerning the creation of Fantastically Damaged.
“There was a time in my life, y’all, that I used to be damaged. That’s why I wrote this album,” he defined. “I didn’t suppose I had an opportunity, y’all. There was days that I believed the darkest issues. I used to be a horrible human. There was a second in my life when all I had was a bible this massive and a radio the identical dimension in a six-by-eight-foot cell, and I believed that these two issues might change my life. I believed that music had the ability to alter my life and God had the ability to alter my life, and I wanna inform y’all proper now, Jesus is for everyone. Jesus will not be owned by one political occasion. Jesus will not be owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and everyone can have a relationship with him.”
The different nominees within the Finest Up to date Nation Album class had been Kelsea Ballerini’s Patterns, Tyler Childers’ Snipe Hunter, Eric Church’s Evangeline vs. The Machine and Miranda Lambert’s Postcards From Texas.
For the primary time in Grammys historical past, the nation music album class was divided into Finest Up to date Nation Album and Finest Conventional Nation Album this 12 months. Charley Crockett’s Greenback a Day, Lukas Nelson’s American Romance, Willie Nelson’s Oh What a Lovely World, Margo Worth’s Arduous Headed Girl and Zach High’s Ain’t in It for My Well being had been nominated for Finest Conventional Nation Album, with High, 28, in the end profitable the award.
The change within the nation music classes got here after Beyoncé gained Finest Nation Album for Cowboy Carter in February 2025, main critics to assert that the file didn’t match the style. (Her fellow nominees included Put up Malone’s F-1 Trillion, Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Effectively, Chris Stapleton’s Greater and Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind.)
In her acceptance speech on the time, Beyoncé, 44, confessed she was “in shock” over her win.
“I’d wish to thank all the unbelievable nation artists that accepted this album. We labored so exhausting on it,” she mentioned. “I feel typically style is a chilly phrase to maintain us in our place as artists, and I simply wanna encourage individuals to do what they’re captivated with and to remain persistent.”
In June 2025, the Recording Academy introduced their resolution to divide the nation classes. Whereas some Beyoncé followers recommended the transfer was made in response to her profitable the Finest Nation Album award earlier that 12 months, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. claimed that the pitch was really submitted quite a few instances over time earlier than finally passing in 2025.
“The group of individuals which might be making nation music in all completely different subgenres got here to us with a proposal and mentioned, ‘We want to have extra selection in how our music is honored,’” Mason, 57, advised Billboard on the time. “They mentioned, ‘We expect we’d like more room for our music to be celebrated and honored.’”
Mason added that the transfer “makes nation parallel with what’s occurring in different genres,” pointing to the separation of up to date and conventional albums and performances in pop, R&B, blues and different classes.
Mason hoped that the nation music world would admire the chance to honor extra artists’ work.
“Individuals from that group are making extra music, it’s extra diverse, there’s completely different kinds of writing and performing,” he mentioned. “I’m hopeful that that group understands that the academy is doing what it all the time does, which is keep in tune with what’s occurring of their style.”