Zach Bryan has publicly boycotted the 2025 Grammys, refusing to submit his work for consideration. Rather than responding to a snub, the singer seemed to despise the idea of making music competitive.
Country sensation Zach Bryan is conspicuously absent from the massive ballot that was recently distributed to Grammy voters — specifically to Recording Academy members and not the general public — after declining to submit his work for consideration in any category for the 2025 awards ceremony.
A search of the online ballot by Recording Academy members reveals that Bryan’s name is not among the hundreds of submissions. Similarly, his albums and songs have not been entered into any of the rock, country, or Americana genres where his music is most likely to appear. According to sources close to the matter, Bryan chose not to apply this year, citing concerns about awards programs “making music competitive.”
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To be fair, this is consistent with Bryan’s notoriously lukewarm attitude toward the music industry, although he has never refused to submit his work for consideration for prizes. But he joins a select handful elite performers who have elected to sit it out, including Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Drake (though Drake has subsequently taken back his boycott).
Interestingly, while The Weeknd made the choice after being completely shut out of nominations during the year his mega smash “Blinding Lights” emerged on the scene, Zach Bryan made the option shortly after winning a Grammy earlier in the year.
Bryan’s song with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything,” earned him his first Grammy in 2024 for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. He has received four nominations in total, three of which came last year and one the year before. Bryan’s nominations were all in the country genre, yet he does not consider himself a country musician.
A boycott of the procedure is consistent with Bryan’s resolve to further distance himself from the “music industry machine,” which he accomplished by requesting that his label Warner stop promoting his music. Despite this, he has remained firmly in the zeitgeist, including a minor scandal last month when he stated on social media that he favored disgraced rapper Kanye West’s music to that of megastar Taylor Swift. He has subsequently apologized and taken back his remark.
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