Morgan Wallen won’t be in the running for a Grammy in 2026, and the decision was his own. The 32-year-old country star, who released his extensive 37-track album “I’m the Problem” in May, has chosen not to submit the project for consideration, according to HITS Daily Double.
The move means the record, despite its success, will be absent from every Grammy category, from Best Country Solo Performance to Song of the Year. Even the seven songs Wallen co-wrote will not appear on the ballot.
While the singer himself is stepping back from the process, his collaborators are free to proceed as they wish. Wallen’s team has confirmed that the songwriters and artists who worked on the record, including Post Malone, Eric Church, Ernest, Hardy, and Tate McRae, will be allowed to submit their contributions independently, People reported.
The decision comes as “I’m the Problem” is dominating the charts, having produced four chart-toppers on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and three No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs ranking. Wallen’s duet with McRae, “What I Want,” marked his first collaboration with a female artist and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Wallen has been candid about the introspection behind his new album, which he described as a turning point in his life.
“I have been a problem, for sure, and I’ve got no problem admitting that,” he said in a May press release. “But there are other sides to me as well. I’ve spent the last 11 months really trying to figure out, ‘Do I still want to be the problem? Is it time to move past that phase in my life?’ I think it probably is, and this might be the last time I get a chance to honestly say it.”
Wallen’s move echoes a growing number of high-profile artists who have distanced themselves from the Recording Academy.
Frank Ocean famously withheld his acclaimed 2016 album “Blonde” from eligibility, calling the move “my Colin Kaepernick moment” and arguing to The New York Times that the Grammys did not “seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from.”
In 2021, Drake withdrew his nominations after criticizing the Academy, while The Weeknd declared a permanent boycott after his smash album “After Hours” and its hit single “Blinding Lights” were shut out of the nominations.
“Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys,” The Weeknd told The New York Times at the time.
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