grammy-awards-2022-chris-stapleton-wins-best-country-album-dominates-country-genre

Grammy Awards 2022: Chris Stapleton Wins Best Country Album, Dominates Country Genre

It’s nearly a Grammy sweep for Chris Stapleton, who added country album of the year Sunday to his trophies for best song and solo performance.

When he accepted his Grammy Sunday night, Stapleton talked of the sacrifices everyone in the audience likely had made to get to this glorious point in their careers. He mentioned that his twins turned four Sunday. Yet he and his wife were in Vegas for the awards ceremony. Stapleton was scheduled to perform later in the show.

“I don’t know what it is for everybody,” Stapleton said of collective sacrifices. “I know it hurts sometimes. Hopefully, we’re all doing it to make the world a better place, so that people living in it will love each other and come together.”

He and his wife walked the red carpet Sunday evening, a few hours after Stapleton won two Grammys in the pre-show. The host of the red carpet asked him how big of a deal it was to win.

“It’s a very big deal,” Stapleton said. “I try not to let it shake you too much. Still have to play tonight.”

Stapleton’s “Starting Over” album has dominated the awards shows. It already won top honors from the CMA and ACM shows. And earlier in the Grammy telecast, Stapleton won best solo performance for “You Should Probably Leave.” And he picked up best country song for “Cold.”

(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Here’s a look at the other nominees who were up for best album.

“Skeletons,” Brothers Osborne. T,J. and John Osborne already picked up one Grammy for the evening. The two won the trophy for best duo/group performance for the song, “Younger Me.” The album reached as high as fourth on the national country charts. It ranked 99th overall on the Billboard country album charts.

“Remember Her Name,” Mickey Guyton. Last year, Guyton became the first Black female country artist to pick up a Grammy nomination for best solo performance. She lost to Vince Gill. But Guyton released her new album last fall, several weeks before the Grammy nominations were revealed.

The day of her nomination, Guyton told the New York Times: I just feel very — what’s the word? Grateful. Relieved? Because I followed my instincts. This whole album came from me and what I thought I should release, and that’s something I’ve never done. I’ve always leaned on everybody else to make these decisions for me. This time, it was my decisions. It goes to show: I was right.”

“The Marfa Tapes,” Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall & Jack Ingram. Lambert skipped Vegas this year because she’s “slammed” preparing for the release of a new album, April 29th. Plus, she also has an upcoming tour with Little Big Town. It’s no slam on the Grammys. Lambert missed the ACM awards show a month ago because of a scheduling conflict. She won Entertainer of the Year, but gave her acceptance speech via pre-recorded tape.

On “The Marfa Tapes,” Lambert, Randall and Ingram, stripped all the frills out of making music. The three Texans adjourned to Marfa. That’s a dot of a town way out in West Texas. The album hit No. 7 on the country charts and topped the folk album list. Randall and Ingram are in Vegas for the Grammys.

“The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita, ” Sturgill Simpson. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Simpson said this would be his final solo album. He described it as a “metamorphosis of the human soul, from past life to conception, and then to flesh and experience and suffering, coming back to the light or being reborn.” The album got as high as third on the country charts and also was No. 1 among folk albums.