BEST COUNTRY SONG
“Buried”
BRANDY CLARK Songwriters: Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon
Singer-songwriter Clark, a 17-time nominee, is looking for her first Grammy win with this gut-punch of a song about a lost love. On the track, Clark runs through the various ways she’ll get on with her life, including marrying someone else, before confessing that she will love her former paramour until she’s “buried.” Clark’s six nominations for this year’s ceremony, including for best musical theater album for the Broadway comedy Shucked, tie her with Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus for the third-most nominations at the 2024 Grammys. Collaborator Jessie Jo Dillon, who has five career nominations and is also now up for songwriter of the year, non-classical, is on the hunt for her first Grammy win as well.
“I Remember Everything”
ZACH BRYAN FEATURING KACEY MUSGRAVES Songwriters: Zach Bryan,
Kacey Musgraves
Bryan, who is up for two other Grammys, co-wrote and performed “I Remember Everything” with Musgraves, who has won this category twice before (in
2014 for “Merry Go ’Round” and in 2019 for “Space Cowboy”). The two artists are also up for best country duo/group performance for their bittersweet tale of a couple who couldn’t stay together and are haunted by the memories of their dissipated love. The song appeared on Bryan’s self-titled album and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first time either artist topped the chart.
“In Your Love” TYLER CHILDERS Songwriters: Tyler Childers, Geno Seale
Penned with Geno Seale, “In Your Love” tells of an enduring passion of waiting for a love no matter how long it takes to be together. The languid ballad, which Childers delivers with a sweet, low-key passion, is greatly enhanced by its gorgeous video — itself nominated for best music video — that flashes back to a same-sex couple in the 1950s determined to be together despite their forbidden love. The clip’s tragic ending only makes the song more poignant and bolsters the lyric, “We were never made to run forever/We were just meant to go long enough.” “In Your Love” also received a nomination for best country solo performance, while Childers’ album featuring the track, Rustin’ in the Rain, garnered a best country album nod.
“Last Night”
MORGAN WALLEN
Songwriters: John Byron,
Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Ryan Vojtesak
A quartet of songwriters penned the swaying, finger-snapping track about a love that may or may not be over that gave Wallen his first Hot 100 No. 1. “Last Night” became the first song by a solo country male artist to rule the chart since Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” in 1981 and, after spending 16 nonconsecutive weeks at the top, set the record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 by a solo artist of any genre. Nashville powerhouse writer Ashley Gorley is going for his first win after six nominations, while this is the first nomination for each of his cowriters, John Byron, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Ryan Vojtesak.
“White Horse” CHRIS STAPLETON Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson
Stapleton has already taken home eight Grammys, including best country album in 2015, while his co-writer, Semisonic’s Dan Wilson, has previously nabbed two trophies, including album of the year for Adele’s 21 in 2012. Wilson also garnered a song of the year nomination this year for co-writing Jon Batiste’s “Butterfly,” about Batiste’s wife’s battle with cancer. The lead single from Stapleton’s new album, Higher, “White
Horse” has a rocking, western feel bolstered by a driving electric guitar. Also nominated for best country solo performance, “White Horse” features a raw, rough vocal by Stapleton as he yowls about not being ready to be his lover’s savior on a white horse, despite hoping to one day become the man she deserves.