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Country music is getting a new Grammy category: best traditional country album. It is the only new music category being added for the 68th annual Grammy Awards in 2026.
To reflect the change, the existing best country album category has been renamed best contemporary country album. The new category will join the 13 other categories in Field 5, four of which are specifically dedicated to country, while the others cover American roots, Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk and regional roots music.
New categories are considered from proposals submitted to the Recording Academy’s Awards & Nominations committee, which are then voted on by the Academy’s board of trustees. “The community of people that are making country music in all different subgenres came to us with a proposal and said we would like to have more variety in how our music is honored,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. tells Billboard. “They said, we think we need more space for our music to be celebrated and honored.” Mason said the proposal had been submitted a number of times previously before passing this year.
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The move helps bring the country categories more in line with other genres which separate contemporary and traditional albums or performances, including R&B, pop and blues.
“It makes country parallel with what’s happening in other genres,” Mason says, “But it is also creating space for where this genre is going.”
The definition for the new category reads, in part, “This category recognizes excellence in albums of traditional country music, both vocal and instrumental. Traditional country includes country recordings that adhere to the more traditional sound structures of the country genre, including rhythm and singing style, lyrical content, as well as traditional country instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, piano, electric guitar, and live drums. It also includes sub-genres such as Western, Western Swing, and Outlaw country.”
The hope is that the new category benefits artists who fall outside of mainstream, commercial country music, such as Charley Crockett, Sierra Ferrell, Colter Wall and Noeline Hoffman, who have previously been nominated into the Americana and American roots categories. (Both Crockett and Ferrell were nominated for best Americana album for the 2025 Grammy Awards, with Ferrell’s Trail of Flowers taking home the Grammy.)
“The issues have been, traditionally, a lot of people that weren’t sure whether [an album] was Americana or roots or folk or country were just jamming everything into one category,” Mason says. “There are obviously nuances between the different genres. Those experts in those genres understand those nuances, and I’m quite certain now you’re going to see the right people going into Americana versus folk versus traditional country. [The change] gives us an opportunity to put things in more specific categories.”
As all subgenres of country grow in popularity, Mason says the addition of a new category gives more chances to share the wealth. “People from that community are making more music, it’s more varied, there’s different styles of writing and performing,” he says. “I’m hopeful that that community understands that the academy is doing what it always does, which is stay in tune with what’s happening in their genre.”
SEVENTEEN achieves its seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart as the group’s latest release, SEVENTEEN 5th Album ‘HAPPY BURSTDAY’ debuts atop the list dated June 14. The set sold 46,000 copies in the United States in the week ending June 5, according to Luminate.
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SEVENTEEN scored its first No. 1 on Top Album Sales in 2021. In turn, with seven No. 1s in the 2020s, the act ties TOMORROW X TOGETHER for the most No. 1s among groups, and the second-most among all acts in the 2020s. Only Taylor Swift, with nine No. 1s on Top Album Sales in the 2020s, has more this decade.
Also in the top 10, the region gets shaken up by albums from Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Sufjan Stevens, Garbage and Aesop Rock.
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Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
Miley Cyrus’ Something Beautiful debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 27,000 copies sold, marking her 15th top 10 (inclusive of titles credited to her Disney Channel character Hannah Montana). Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem falls to No. 3 (16,000; down 45%) after two weeks atop the list.
Two Swift albums return to the top 10 after an outpouring of fan support following the news that Swift had acquired her Big Machine Records-era music catalog. Her 2017 album reputation reenters at No. 4 (15,000; up 1,183%) and her self-titled 2006 self-titled debut reenters at No. 6 (8,000; up 955%).
Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping To Pimp a Butterfly reenters at No. 5 on Top Album Sales (11,000; up 639%) after a 10th anniversary reissue on multiple vinyl variants, as well as a cassette tape. Another 10th anniversary reissue, this time from Sufjan Stevens, also impacts the chart, as his Carrie & Lowell reenters at No. 7 (8,000; up 2,656%). (For both Lamar and Stevens, all versions of their respective albums, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.)
Garbage’s Let All That We Imagine Be the Light debuts at No. 8 with just over 7,000 sold, securing the band its fourth top 10-charting set. Lamar’s former No. 1 GNX falls 5-9 (a little more than 7,000; down 15%) and Aesop Rock nabs his first top 10-charting effort with his new release Black Hole Superette debuting at No. 10 (7,000).
“Here we are now, entertain us.” You asked for it and Nirvana provided. The iconic grunge trio’s beloved video for breakthrough 1991 hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has just crossed the two billion views mark on YouTube. The Samuel Bayer-directed clip in which late singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and company rock a high school gym into a frenzy debuted on MTV in the fall of 1991, quickly catapulting the group to global superstardom.
While the majority of the YouTube music videos with two billion or more views are from pop, Latin, country and hip-hop artists including Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Enrique Iglesias, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Shakira and Alan Walker, there are a handful of other rock videos that have reached that storied height.
Among the other rock acts to hit two billie are: Twenty One Pilots (“Stressed Out,” “Heathens”), Imagine Dragons (“Believer,” “Thunder”), Guns N’ Roses (“November Rain”) and Linkin Park (“Numb”). “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was first uploaded to YouTube at 2009 and hit the one billion mark in 2019.
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Two months after its release, the song that defined a generation topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart on Nov. 23, 1991 and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The unlikely long-for-pop-radio five minute hit featuring such obtuse lyrics as “A mulatto, an albino a mosquito, my libido” and a visual in which band members Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic thrash about as anarchist cheerleaders whip teens into a frenzy in a smoke-shrouded gymnasium was the unlikeliest hits at a time when Bryan Adams, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men ruled the charts.
But the song helped the band’s second studio album, Nevermind, climb the charts and end then chart king Michael Jackson’s run at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart on Jan. 11, 1992 when it pushed his Dangerous album from the to of the heap.
Check out “Smells Like Teen Spirit” below.
After appointing himself chair of the Kennedy Center and replacing its board members with loyalists, President Donald Trump’s first-ever visit to the revered Washington, D.C. cultural center on Wednesday night (June 11) was likely not the warm welcome he expected. Taking his seat for the opening night of Les Misérables, the Associated Press reported that Trump was met with a mix of cheers and boos, as well as an unexpected parade of drag queens who sashayed past the first couple, seemingly in protest of Trump’s previous vow of “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA.”
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In addition, a dozen performers — from major cast members to ensemble performers — planned to sit out the show after being given the option not to perform on the night Trump was in the house to enjoy what he has said is one of his favorite musicals. The show about 19th century France features a song Trump has played at his rallies in the past, “Do You Hear the People Sing?,” a revolutionary anthem inspired by the 1832 rebellion against King Louis-Phillipe of France.
The song’s stirring lyrics about rising up against oppressive regimes has often been employed at pro-democracy protests around the globe, and on Wednesday one patron reportedly shouted “Viva Los Angeles” as Trump left the presidential box for intermission, a seeming reference to the now nearly week-long protests in that city over the administration’s immigration raids.
In his second term, Trump — who admittedly had never attended a performance at the Kennedy Center in his first term, or ever — has swiftly moved to remake the organization in his own image. After installing himself as chairman of the Center, Trump also placed a number of loyalists on the typically non-partisan board and vowed to remove “woke” shows from the roster. Subsequently, nearly two dozen events have been canceled or postponed, a number out of protest at Trump’s takeover, including Hamilton, the National Youth Poet Laureate Commemoration, Saigon Nights, as well as shows by Peter Wolf, Low Cut Connie, Rhiannon Giddens, Issa Rae and many more.
The AP reported that the show that tackles themes of protest, power, injustice and poverty featured the sounds of explosions and gunfire, with civilians clashing with soldiers on stage at the very same time that Los Angeles was put under curfew after protesters battled with police over immigration raids by ICE for a sixth day following Trump’s call-up of Marines and National Guard troops to quell the protests. “Someone explain the plot to him,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X.
In March, Vice President J.D. Vance and wife Usha were booed when they attended a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra and the AP also noted that sales of subscription packages have reportedly declined since the Trump makeover. CNNalso reported that while some cheered and clapped for Trump and First Lady Melania Trump as they stood up at the end of the first act, one woman in the orchestra section below shouted, “Felon, you’re a convicted felon!” to the first U.S. president to take the office after being convicted of a felony. The women then added, “Convicted felon, rapist!” before a security guard seemed to escort her out; Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation in 2023 in a suit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll and in 2024 was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
In addition, as the crowd awaited Trump’s return to his seat, another person reportedly yelled, “F–k Trump! to cheers, while a supportive patron responded with “We love you.” The president seemingly reacted to the comments by pumping his first three times — reminiscent of his response after an assassination attempt last year in Pennsylvania in which a gunman fired at the then-candidate and nicked his ear.
Check out the mixed reaction to Trump’s Kennedy Center attendance below.
At the Kennedy Center, half the theater just started clapping when a group of drag queens showed up to find their seats at opening night of Les Miserables, which Trump, Melania, Vance and their top allies have all come out to see. pic.twitter.com/1WJHsGL987— Shawn McCreesh (@ShawnMcCreesh) June 11, 2025
Rolling Loud is headed to India. The hip-hop festival – which already has editions in California, Florida and Thailand – will debut its first festival in Mumbai after bringing the signature event to eight other countries. The two-day festival will be exclusively ticketed and produced in partnership with District by Zomato, a discovery and booking app.
“We never imagined Rolling Loud would take us all the way to India — it’s incredible,” Rolling Loud co-founders and co-CEOs Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif said in a joint statement. “The hip-hop scene in India has been booming, and bringing the festival to Mumbai felt like the right decision. We’re excited to create a space where Indian fans can celebrate the artists they love, while also introducing international acts to a new audience. For us, it’s always been about building community through hip-hop — and we can’t wait to experience how India shows up.”
The two-day festival in India — which will announce dates and venue at a later time — will feature two distinct stages with elaborate production, plus fans can enjoy a series of local food and drink options, art installations and experiential activations that all tie back to the celebration of global and Indian hip-hop culture. Rolling Loud India promises a spotlight on an array of global superstars and international talent and top and rising Indian hip-hop artists.
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“India’s hip-hop scene is on fire right now, it’s raw, it’s real, and it’s ready. Rolling Loud coming to India isn’t just another festival drop; it’s a cultural shift,” District by Zomato CEO Rahul Ganjoo said in a release. “For years, we’ve felt the need to bridge India’s sound with the global stage, and this is that moment. It’s bigger than music, it’s a loud, undeniable signal that Indian hip-hop is here, it’s global, and it’s got something to say. We’re proud to bring this home.”
Since the event was founded in 2015, Rolling Loud has held festivals in New York, Miami, Toronto and Los Angeles, as well as in Australia, Germany, Portugal, The Netherlands, Thailand and Austria. Rolling Loud lineups throughout the last decade have included Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Future, Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Cardi B, Playboi Carti and more.
Rolling Loud India tickets will go live exclusively on the District app. For more information on talent lineup, ticket details, festival details and more, check the District app and @districtupdates page on Instagram.
Paul McCartney has paid tribute to the late Brian Wilson, 82, whose death was announced on Wednesday (June 11), calling his songs “achingly special” and that “I loved him.”
Yesterday, news broke that the Beach Boys leader had died, but a cause and date of death has not yet been announced. A post on Wilson’s official Instagram account wrote, “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.”
Tributes have been shared by a number of musical greats who were inspired by Wilson’s songwriting genius, including Bob Dylan, Elton John, Questlove and more.
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On his Instagram account on Thursday (June 12), McCartney wrote, “Brian had that mysterious sense of musical genius that made his songs so achingly special. The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant at the same time.”
He added, “I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while. How we will continue without Brian Wilson, ‘God Only Knows’. Thank you, Brian. – Paul.”
Wilson’s work on the seminal LP Pet Sounds (1966) was hugely influential on McCartney and The Beatles’ subsequent studio albums, particularly Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). McCartney cited “God Only Knows” as one of “the best songs ever written” and in 2000, inducted Wilson into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Speaking during the ceremony, McCartney declared his admiration for Wilson’s work. “In the ’60s, particularly, he wrote some music that when I played it, it made me cry and I don’t quite know why. It wasn’t necessarily the words or the music, it’s just something so deep in it, that there’s only certain pieces of music that can do this to me… I think it’s a sign of great genius to be able to do that with a bunch of music and a bunch of notes. And this man, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, that’s for sure.
He added, “So thank you, sir, for making me cry. For having that thing you can do with your music – you just put those notes, those harmonies together, stick a couple of words over the top and you’ve got me, any day.”
Following the release of Pet Sounds, Wilson was increasingly impacted by mental health struggles and he was eventually diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. In February 2024, it was announced that he was diagnosed with dementia. Wilson is survived by his daughters Carnie and Wendy from his 1964 marriage to Marilyn Rovell, as well as his five adopted children with his wife Melinda Ledbetter, who passed in early 2024. Read Billboard’s full obituary here.
Billboard Unfiltered is back with a reimagined format and will remain a live show every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Staff writer Kyle Denis, senior director R&B/hip-hop Carl Lamarre and senior charts analyst Trevor Anderson returned with new moderator Delisa Shannon on Wednesday (June 11) as the trio debated the early returns of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter VI, and all three skewed to various degrees of a negative reception to Weezy’s latest installment in his decorated series.
Lamarre compared Wayne’s career legacy to that of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and said Weezy still remains in his top five of all-time. Although, CL believes that the disappointing album and his solo output over the last decade have watered down his discography.
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“I need to fire whoever was A&R and executive producing my brother Wayne’s album because this is easily the worst [Carter] in the entire series,” he claimed. “[C6] was just a full trainwreck… When you take out the mixtapes and look at pure albums. From one, five and six on Tha Carter is mid — everything else is mid.”
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Denis bluntly said C6 is “not a good album at all” and “a—.” “He spent the last year begging for sympathy by him not getting the Super Bowl slot and he deserved that,” he said. “This was the time to drop a fire album, get one or two hits off of that, and make your actual case for a Super Bowl headlining show next year. That’s completely shot now because it’s a—… You did not rise to the occasion.”
Anderson seemed to enjoy the album most among the Unfiltered crew, highlighting the first six tracks as standouts before being derailed. “I’m not gonna be that hard on it,” TA began. “Clearly, it’s the weakest entry in the canon… It didn’t stick the landing for me… I don’t know if this album really messes up [if Wayne is top five or top 10] for me… It does weaken Tha Carter series overall… But I don’t think it messes up the legacy peg at all.”
The conversation turned to Wayne’s legacy and Lamarre believes every top 10 rapper should have at least three classic solo offerings, and he thinks Wayne has two with the second and third installments of Tha Carter, but not much else. “I’m adamant about saying his [albums] discography is not as strong as people think,” he declared.
Ultimately, the trio wants to see Wayne get back to the drawing board and lock in with a singular producer like Nas did with Hit-Boy to bring that greatness out of him. When the dust settled, Shannon gave Trevor Anderson the victory in the first game of the revamped Unfiltered series.
Watch the full episode below.
Jen Majura, a seasoned guitarist who has performed with bands such as Equilibrium, Knorkator and Evanescence, has announced her decision to “step away” from the music industry.
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Majura’s plans were shared on her Instagram account on Tuesday (June 10), explaining that she had come to the decision after “careful consideration, observing what‘s going on in the music industry, AI related developments and change in society.”
“Instead of wasting another year of my life constantly hoping for new energy, drive and creativity, I‘ve reached a point in my life where I can confidentially lean back in peace,” she wrote. “While time allowed me, I was able to collect an amazing amount of beautiful experiences, tours, shows, travels and moments! I am grateful for every bit of that, but the world has changed. I can confidently make up my mind to stop.
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“I am not saying that I will never create any music again, whether recorded or live – but for now I feel there are healthier and better things to fill my life with good vibes and not deal with the overwhelming amount of ridiculousness that comes with the music industry now days. I just can’t identify with today‘s attitude and values anymore.”
As Majura continued she shared her well wishes to “all the ambitious and remaining ‘creators’, young and old,” before offering four singles to her fans as something of a parting gift.
“As a final musical endeavor I wanna share 4 tracks with you,” she wrote. “Songs that were written over a decade ago together with the great guitarist Dennis Hormes. I found these old demo recordings while cleaning out stuff from my computer and thought they are too good to not be shared.”
A musician from an early age, Majura has performed professionally since 2000, with work as a guitarist and bassist in bands such as Equilibrium, Knorkator and Black Thunder Ladies, and a handful of solo albums to her name.
Majura came to widespread attention in 2015 when she took over from Terry Balsamo as the lead guitarist of Arkansas rockers Evanescence. Performing on the band’s most recent two albums (2017’s Synthesis and 2021’s The Bitter Truth), Majura’s exit from the band was announced in May 2022.
“It has been a very special chapter in the band with our dear friend Jen Majura, but we have decided it’s time to go our separate ways,” the group said at the time. “We will always love her and support her, and can’t wait to see what she does next! We are so grateful for the good times and great music we made all around the world together.”
Following her departure from Evanescence, Majura co-founded “crossover metal band” How We End, and also performed vocals on the track “Deep Inside,” from former Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini’s Invisible Signs albums.
Douglas McCarthy, the co-founding vocalist of English industrial dance outfit Nitzer Ebb, has passed away at the age of 58.
McCarthy’s death was confirmed by Nitzer Ebb’s official social media account on Tuesday (June 11). “It is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform that Douglas McCarthy passed away this morning of June 11th, 2025,” a post read.
“We ask everyone to please be respectful of Douglas, his wife, and family in this difficult time,” it added. “We appreciate your understanding and will share more information soon.”
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McCarthy co-founded Nitzer Ebb in 1982 alongside school friends Vaughan ‘Bon’ Harris and David Gooday, with the group taking inspiration from the post-punk genre for their early single releases. That sound soon evolved with more industrial and electronic influences, with the band quickly becoming regarded as noted figures within the ‘electronic body music’ scene – a genre that combined elements of industrial and punk with dance music.
The group’s debut album, That Total Age, would be issued in May 1987, and though avoiding chart success, the single “Join the Chant” would reach No. 9 on the Dance Club Songs charts.
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Nitzer Ebb would remain a fixture of the chart in the coming years, with singles such as “Control I’m Here,” “Lightning Man,” and “Fun to Be Had” all appearing therein, with the latter giving the band their highest peak when it reached No. 5 in 1990. They would also impact the Alternative Airplay charts, with 1991’s “Family Man” giving them a career high when it reached No. 21.
While 1991’s Ebbhead would be their only record to reach the Billboard 200 (peaking at No. 146), their follow-up, 1995’s Big Hit, would be the band’s last for 15 years, with Nitzer Ebb splitting soon after its release.
McCarthy would contribute to Recol, the solo project of Depeche Mode‘s Alan Wilder throughout the ’90s, and later collaborate with French producer Terence Fixmer as one half of Fixmer/McCarthy. Nitzer Ebb would reform in 2006 and release their final album, Industrial Complex, in 2010. In 2013, McCarthy would release his only solo album, Kill Your Friends.
In recent years, McCarthy had suffered from noted ill health, with Harris taking over vocals for a series of 2021 performances after McCarthy collapsed before a show due to a “pre-existing” medical condition. In early 2024, McCarthy announced he would no longer be performing live after being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.
Ananda Lewis, who had a celebrated run on MTV as a veejay and as the host of shows including Total Request Live and Hot Zone, has died at age 52. News of Lewis’ death was confirmed in a Facebook post by her sister, Lakshmi Emory. In 2020, Lewis revealed that she had been diagnosed with […]
