Photo Credit: Beyoncé’s reaction to winning Best Country Album has become a viral meme / The Recording Academy
Country singer John Rich calls Beyoncé’s Best Country Album win at the Grammys a ‘total joke,’ asserting the win should have gone to Lainey Wilson.
John Rich of country duo Big & Rich is adding fuel to the backlash over Beyoncé’s win for Best Country Album at the 2025 Grammys. While some country stars, like Kelsea Ballerini, have expressed their belief that country is for everyone, even those who are not traditional country singers, others — like Rich — think the Recording Academy “outed themselves” as pushing an agenda.
“There’s NO WAY [Beyoncé’s] album was better than Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind. I don’t get it,” Rich wrote on social media. “Record labels making deals on the votes.”
“Folks are asking me ‘how do music award shows work?’” he continued. “Labels/publishers all have blocks of votes. They make deals with each other, ‘you vote for mine, we’ll vote for yours,’ type thing. It has ZERO to do with who made the best music. Thus, Beyoncé with ‘Country Album of the Year.’ Nice, right?”
“The same thing is true with the CMAs, ACMs, Billboard, etc. all work exactly the same,” Rich explained. “Last night, the Grammys outed themselves in a big way.”
Netizens have been debating the win at length, with the BeyHive rallying in support of their queen, while critics like Rich have been very vocal about their belief the award should have gone to an established country artist. Country singer Kelsea Ballerini defended Beyoncé’s nomination in the category ahead of the ceremony on February 2, who called the backlash the “16 Carriages” singer faced for shifting into the country space unnecessary.
“That category, to me, represents what country music has been this year, and that’s what the album of the year category should represent,” Ballerini shared on SiriusXM’s Fierce: Women in Music. “What has happened in country music has been successful and groundbreaking this year. I don’t really understand the other opinions other than like, it’s amazing to have huge, respected artists and other genres come in and celebrate ours.”
“I don’t understand why that would be anything but great,” she continued. “You don’t have to be a country artist to make a country record. Those don’t have to exist in the same plane.”
Some naysayers believe Beyoncé’s shocked expression (which has become a viral internet meme) was because she didn’t know her husband, Jay-Z, had allegedly paid for the award, rather than surprise she had won at all. This belief apparently stems from remarks he made previously when he called out the Grammys for never awarding Album of the Year to his wife — despite her holding the record for the most Grammy wins and nominations overall of any artist in history.
“[Beyoncé] has more Grammys than anyone and never won Album of the Year,” said Jay-Z. “Some of you will feel like you were robbed. Some of you will get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.”
Meanwhile, Queen Bey’s acceptance speech echoed some of her husband’s sentiments, but in a decidedly more palatable turn of phrase: “Sometimes I think genre is a code word to keep us in our places as artists,” she said. “I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about. To stay persistent.”