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Willie & Lukas Nelson Are Just The Second Father/Son Duo Ever To Be Grammy-Nominated In The Same Category For Different Albums
The most talented father/son duo in country music… or really… all of music in general.
Last week, the Recording Academy announced the full list of Grammy nominees for the 68th annual show, which will take place on Sunday, February 1st, 2026 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and broadcast on CBS and Paramount+. Performers and presenters will be announced at a later date.
And you might have heard that this year, there’s a brand new category for the country genre called Best Traditional Country Album. The previously titled Best Country Album category has been changed to Best Contemporary Country Album, so there will be two opportunities for some of your favorite country artists to win one of music’s most prestigious awards.
Of course, as you might imagine, the Best Traditional Country Album category is stacked.
We have Charley Crockett’s Dollar A Day, Margo Price’s Hard Headed Woman, Zach Top’s Ain’t In It For My Health, Lukas Nelson’s American Romance and his father, Willie Nelson’s, Oh What A Beautiful World all up for the award. Yes, the category is 40% Nelson, and it’s only the second time in history that’s happened at the Grammys, in terms of a father and son both being nominated in the same category for different albums.
The only other time it happened was in 1998, when Julio Iglesias and his son Enrique Iglesias were both nominated for Best Latin Pop Album, though neither one of them won it, as the award went to Luis Miguel. Funny enough, Julio and Willie have worked together in the past, on their hit song “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before.”
Both Willie’s Oh What A Beautiful World and Lukas Nelson’s American Romance are incredible albums, and I think either one of them is deserving to win, though as I’ve said before many times, Lukas debut solo album has easily been my favorite country project released this year, so that is the one that has my vote. I think this new category is certainly the best in terms of talent and the music that is true to the best parts of country, and it would only be fitting for a Nelson to win the first one ever.
It has to be an incredibly special and full-circle moment for the Nelson’s, and it also includes Willie’s youngest son Micah, who is nominated with his dad as the producer on Willie’s Last Leaf on the Tree record, which is up for Best Americana Album. I’m sure they’re all cheering for each other and will be happy regardless of who wins (they seem like a very supportive family), if one of them does, and it certainly makes country music look good to have them all up for some of the most prestigious awards.
If I was a betting woman, I think you’re going to see all of them take home an award come February… and deservedly so. The apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the musical tree when it comes to the Nelson’s, and all of our ears are much better off for it.
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2026 Grammy Nominees
The full list of country nominees is below.
COUNTRY
Best Traditional Country Album
Dollar A Day, Charley Crockett
American Romance, Lukas Nelson
Oh What A Beautiful World, Willie Nelson
Hard Headed Woman, Margo Price
Ain’t In It For My Health, Zach Top
Best Contemporary Country Album
Patterns, Kelsea Ballerini
Snipe Hunter, Tyler Childers
Evangeline Vs. The Machine, Eric Church
Beautifully Broken, Jelly Roll
Postcards From Texas, Miranda Lambert
Best Country Solo Performance
“Nose on the Grindstone,” Tyler Childers
“Good News,” Shaboozey
“Bad as I Used to Be [From F1® The Movie],” Chris Stapleton
“I Never Lie,” Zach Top
“Somewhere Over Laredo,” Lainey Wilson
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“A Song to Sing,” Miranda Lambert And Chris Stapleton
“Trailblazer,” Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson
“Love Me Like You Used to Do,” Margo Price & Tyler Childers
“Amen,” Shaboozey & Jelly Roll
“Honky Tonk Hall of Fame,” George Strait, Chris Stapleton
Best Country Song
“Bitin’ List,” Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)
“Good News,” Michael Ross Pollack, Sam Elliot Roman & Jacob Torrey, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Never Lie,” Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols & Zach Top, songwriters (Zach Top)
“Somewhere Over Laredo,” Andy Albert, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson & Lainey Wilson, songwriters (Lainey Wilson)
“A Song to Sing,” Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure, Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton)
AMERICANA/ROOTS
Best American Roots Performance
“LONELY AVENUE,” Jon Batiste Featuring Randy Newman
“Ancient Light,” I’m With Her
“Crimson and Clay,” Jason Isbell
“Richmond on the James,” Alison Krauss & Union Station
“Beautiful Strangers,” Mavis Staples
Best Americana Performance
“Boom,” Sierra Hull
“Poison in My Well,” Maggie Rose & Grace Potter
“Godspeed,” Mavis Staples
“That’s Gonna Leave a Mark,” Molly Tuttle
“Horses,” Jesse Welles
Best American Roots Song
“Ancient Light,” Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)
“BIG MONEY,” Jon Batiste, Mike Elizondo & Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Foxes in the Snow,” Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell)
“Middle,” Jesse Welles, songwriter (Jesse Welles)
“Spitfire,” Sierra Hull, songwriter (Sierra Hull)
Best Americana Album
BIG MONEY, Jon Batiste
Bloom, Larkin Poe
Last Leaf on the Tree, Willie Nelson
So Long Little Miss Sunshine, Molly Tuttle
Middle, Jesse Welles
Best Bluegrass Album
Carter & Cleveland, Michael Cleveland & Jason Carter
A Tip Toe High Wire, Sierra Hull
Arcadia, Alison Krauss & Union Station
Outrun, The Steeldrivers
Highway Prayers, Billy Strings
ALL-GENRE
Record of the Year
DtMF, Bad Bunny
Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter
Anxiety, Doechii
WILDFLOWER, Billie Eilish
Abracadabra, Lady Gaga
Luther, Kendrick Lamar With SZA
The Subway, Chappell Roan
APT., ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
Album of the Year
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Bad Bunny
SWAG, Justin Bieber
Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter
Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
MAYHEM, Lady Gaga
GNX, Kendrick Lamar
MUTT, Leon Thomas
CHROMAKOPIA, Tyler, The Creator
Song of the Year
Abracadabra, Henry Walter, Lady Gaga & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
Anxiety, Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)
APT., Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Henry Walter, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park & Theron Thomas, songwriters (ROSÉ, Bruno Mars)
DtMF, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Scott Dittrich,, Benjamin Falik, Roberto José Rosado Torres, Marco Daniel Borrero, Hugo René Sención Sanabria & Tyler Thomas Spry, songwriters (Bad Bunny)
Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”], EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)
Luther, Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew, Bernard, Ink, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Kendrick Lamar, Mark Anthony Spears, Solána Rowe & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar With SZA)
Manchild, Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)
WILDFLOWER, Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist
Olivia Dean
KATSEYE
The Marias
Addison Rae
Sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
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