A Country Fan’s Cheat Sheet to the 2023 Grammy Awards
The 65th Grammy Awards show is fast approaching, and as always, the ceremony will honor the biggest accomplishments by recording artists across all musical genres — including country music.
With any all-genre awards show, fans are bound to find some portions of the event more riveting than others: Some award categories will be full of familiar names, while others will apply to a genre that they might have never even listened to. So, if you're tuning in to watch your favorite country stars claim awards, present trophies and give performances during music's biggest night, here's a rundown of all the key moments to expect.
What Country Stars Are Nominated in the 2023 Grammy Awards?
As always, the country format is well-represented in genre-specific categories, which consist of Best Country Solo Performance, Best Country Duo/Group Performance, Best Country Song (a trophy that goes to the songwriters) and Best Country Album.
Miranda Lambert leads nominees in mainstream country categories in 2023. She's up for four trophies. Luke Combs, Maren Morris and Willie Nelson follow close behind, with three nominations each. Plus, Nelson brings his nominations total up to four with a mention in the Best Roots Gospel Album category.
Zach Bryan is a high-profile first-time nominee at this year's show, with a Best Country Solo Performance mention for his breakout hit, "Something in the Orange." Other nominees include Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde, Cody Johnson, Brothers Osborne and more. Look for some of these genre-specific awards to be handed out at the Premiere Ceremony before the Grammys, which fans can watch starting at 3:30 PM ET at live.GRAMMY.com or the Recording Academy's YouTube Channel.
Americana fans have got plenty to be excited about, too, especially when it comes to Brandi Carlile. Carlile is one of the most-nominated artists at the 2023 Grammy Awards, period. Not only did she get plenty of love in genre-specific fields, but her In These Silent Days album is nominated for Album of the Year, and her duet with Lucius, "You and Me on the Rock," is up for Record of the Year. With seven nods, Carlile is tied with Adele for third-most nominated artist at the Grammys; only Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar earned more.
Which Country Stars Will Perform at the 2023 Grammy Awards?
Carlile is also performing during the telecast. Her performance was revealed as part of an initial lineup that also included Luke Combs, as well as several stars from other genres. It's not yet clear if more solo performances remain to be announced, but the Recording Academy did recently announce an all-star tribute medley dedicated to some of the musical legends we lost over the past year.
One of those late, great legends is Loretta Lynn: Kacey Musgraves will perform a rendition of Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter," according to Variety. Elsewhere in that performance, country-adjacent singer-songwriters Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt will pay homage to Fleetwod Mac's Christine McVie along with Mick Fleetwood, and Maverick City Music and Quavo will come together to honor the late rapper Takeoff.
Chris Stapleton is also set to perform at the Grammys in 2023.
What Country Stars Will Attend the 2023 Grammy Awards?
Country fans should keep their eyes peeled when trophies are handed out, too: Shania Twain has been announced as a presenter, but it's not clear yet exactly which category she's been tasking with handling.
As for who will attend the ceremony — aside from the obvious answers of the performers and presenters -- country fans will largely have to wait until the show to find out. Variety confirms Zach Bryan will be in attendance, and Carly Pearce — another first-time nominee — confirmed to GRAMMY.com that she'll be there, too. In late 2022, Johnson confirmed to Taste of Country that he'll be at the ceremony as well.
How Do I Watch the 2023 Grammy Awards?
The 2023 Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. The show will air live on CBS beginning at 8 PM ET, and it'll also be available live and on-demand on Paramount+. The pre-show Premiere Ceremony starts at 3:30 PM ET, and you can watch it via live.GRAMMY.com and the Recording Academy's YouTube channel.