Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Blues has been an awards magnet in the past year. The collection won album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 11 and at the Country Music Awards on Nov. 8. On Feb. 4, we’ll find out if it becomes the eighth album to complete country music’s “triple crown” by also winning a Grammy.
Bell Bottom Blues is competing for the best country album Grammy with Kelsea Ballerini’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ in the Rain and eponymous albums from Brothers Osborne and Zach Bryan.
Jay Joyce produced Bell Bottom Blues, which was released on Oct. 28, 2022. The album has spawned the singles “Heart Like a Truck,” “Watermelon Moonshine” and “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.”
The Grammys presented an award for best country & western album in 1965 and 1966. Roger Miller won both years. The Grammys didn’t present such an award again until 1995, when it went (under the more modern term best country album) to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Stones in the Road.
The CMA Awards first presented album of the year (to Jack Greene’s There Goes My Everything) at their first awards presentation in the fall of 1967. The ACM Awards first presented the award (to Glen Campbell’s Gentle on My Mind) at their third ceremony, in March 1968.
Before the Grammys finally reinstated a best country album category, six albums won album of the year at both the ACM and CMA Awards – Merle Haggard’s Okie From Muskogee, Charlie Rich’s Behind Closed Doors (a Grammy nominee in the all-genre album of the year category), Willie Nelson’s Always on My Mind, Alabama’s The Closer You Get…, George Strait’s Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind and Garth Brooks’ No Fences. At least some of these albums probably would have won a Grammy for best country album if the category had existed at the time. Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure.
Here are the eight albums that have won album awards at all three shows.
Release Date: Aug. 31, 1999
Producers: Blake Chancey, Paul Worley
Singles:“Ready to Run,” “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Goodbye Earl,” “Cold Day in July,” “Without You,” “If I Fall You’re Going Down with Me,” “Heartbreak Town,” “Some Days You Gotta Dance”
Notes: The Chicks were known as Dixie Chicks when this, their second major-label studio album, was released.
Release Date: Dec. 5, 2000
Producer: T Bone Burnett
Singles: “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” (Soggy Bottom Boys), “O, Death” (Ralph Stanley), “I’ll Fly Away” (Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch)
Notes: This wasn’t entered for best country album, but it won two album awards – best compilation soundtrack album for a motion picture, television or other visual media and the overall album of the year award.
Release Date: Nov. 11, 2008
Producers: Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift
Singles: “Love Story,” “White Horse,” “You Belong with Me,” “Fifteen,” “Fearless”
Notes: Swift was not yet 20 when this album completed the triple crown at the CMA Awards in November 2009. This was Swift’s sophomore album.In addition to winning the Grammy for best country album, this won the overall album of the year award.
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Producers: Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay, Glenn Worf
Singles: “Automatic,” “Somethin’ Bad,” “Little Red Wagon,” “Smokin’ and Drinkin’”
Notes: This was Lambert’s fifth major-label album.
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Singles: “Traveller,” “Nobody to Blame,” “Parachute”
Notes: This was Stapleton’s first solo album, marking the only time an artist took the triple crown with a debut album. This album re-entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 following Stapleton’s performance with Justin Timberlake (of “Tennessee Whiskey”) on the CMA Awards on Nov. 4, 2015 – the first time a CMA performance propelled an album to the top spot.
Release Date: May 5, 2017
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Singles: “Either Way,” “Broken Halos”
Notes: Stapleton’s sophomore album, released two years to the day after Traveller, marked the first time an artist achieved the triple crown with back-to-back albums.
Release Date: March 30, 2018
Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Daniel Tashian, Kacey Musgraves
Singles: “Space Cowboy,” “Butterflies,” “High Horse,” “Slow Burn,” “Rainbow”
Notes: This was Musgraves’ third non-holiday studio album. In addition to winning the Grammy for best country album, this won the overall album of the year award.
Release Date: Nov. 13, 2020
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Singles: “Starting Over,” “Cold,” “You Should Probably Leave,” “Joy of My Life”
Notes: After missing out with his previous album, From A Room: Volume 2 (which didn’t win the top album award at any of the three shows), Stapleton was back to his familiar winning ways. This was his fourth studio album.