Big & Rich’s John Rich Blasts Beyonce’s Country Album Win at the Grammys

Knowles picked up the Best Country Album trophy for Cowboy Carter, beating out the likes of Wilson, Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves and Chris Stapleton — with Bey looking genuinely shocked as her name was called in the category. She went on to also win Album of the Year — her first win ever in that category, too — as well as Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus.

After Beyoncé picked up her award, Rich went to X to criticize her win.

“Beyoncé wins ‘Best Country Album’ at The Grammys🤣🤣Way to go🤣🤣,” he began, before a fan responded, “Of course, the Grammys had to push their agenda instead of actually honoring real country artists. Total joke!”

To that, Rich replied, “🤡show”

When someone asked him how voting works, with the fan saying “There’s NO WAY her album was better than Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind, I don’t get it,” Rich then claimed “Record labels making deals on the votes.”

He followed that up with more bold claims, saying, “Folks are asking me ‘how do music award shows work?’ 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, Beyonce with ‘Country album of the year.’ Nice, right?”

“The same thing is true with the CMA’s, ACM’s, Billboard, etc…all work exactly the same. Last night, the Grammy’s outed themselves in a big way,” he added — though it should be noted Knowles was completely snubbed by the CMAs.

His final tweet on the subject read, “.@laineywilson > @Beyonce” — a sentiment shared by many on Wilson’s Instagram comments as well, though she hasn’t said anything about her loss. Both Wilson and Musgraves were seen standing and clapping for Knowles as she walked to the stage.

“I think sometimes I think genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists,” Beyoncé, meanwhile, said during her acceptance speech last night. “I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about. To stay persistent.”

Many fans were also thrilled to see her win, as she instantly became a meme thanks to her surprised reaction to her name being called.

See more viral moments from the show below!