Eastern Washington country star among 2026 Grammy winners. What award was won?
For the Grammy Awards, 2026 was a year of firsts.
The 68th annual Grammy Awards, held Sunday, Feb. 1, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, introduced several new categories.
Kendrick Lamar won five trophies to become the rap artist with the most wins in Grammy history.
Meanwhile, the Recording Avenue named Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” as Album of the Year — making it the first all-Spanish language album to earn that title.
For 2026, the Recording Academy changed how it awards country albums.
Instead of an all-encompassing Best Country Album category, last won by Beyoncé for “Cowboy Carter,” there are two country album categories: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album.
One of these awards went to an artist from Eastern Washington.
Here’s who:
Who won Best Traditional Country Album at 2026 Grammys?
The first-ever Grammy for Best Traditional Country Album was awarded to Eastern Washington’s own Zach Top.
His 2025 album “Ain’t In It For My Health” took home the win.
Apple Music described the album as taking a looser approach than Top’s previous album, “Cold Beer & Country Music,” “dipping into the sunny sounds of Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney while celebrating living the life he’d dreamed of as an aspiring singer-songwriter.”
“With this record, it’s like I’ve lived a little more, and so I have a little more to say,” Top told Apple Music of “Ain’t In It for My Health.” “There’s just a little more depth to it, I think. It goes a couple layers deeper than the first record, which I love and I’m very proud of it. But I think there’s more meat on the bone with ‘Ain’t In It For My Health.’”
Top’s album was up against “Dollar A Day” by Charley Crockett, “American Romance” by Lukas Nelson, “Oh What A Beautiful World” by Willie Nelson and “Hard Headed Woman” by Margo Price.
Top now has several award wins under his belt. The country star was named the New Male Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2025 and the 2025 New Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
As of Monday, Feb. 2, Top had more than 6 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
What other Grammys was Zach Top nominated for?
Top was nominated for two additional categories he ultimately lost to other competitors.
His song “I Never Lie” was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance. Chris Stapleton took home the Grammy for that category for “Bad As I Used To Be,” from “F1 The Movie.”
“I Never Lie” was also nominated for Best Country Song. The award went to Tyler Childers for “Bitin’ List.”
Who is Eastern Washington country star Zach Top?
Top was raised on a ranch in Sunnyside before moving to Pasco late in elementary school, the Tri-City Herald previously reported. He got his start in music in Eastern Washington, through a bluegrass group with his siblings.
Top has since moved to Nashville and signed to independent label Leo33.
Billboard called Top “one of the fastest-rising artists in country music,” noting that his “old-school sound” has drawn comparisons to ’90s country legends including Alan Jackson, Doug Stone and Keith Whitley.
Where is Zach Top playing in 2026?
Top last visited Eastern Washington for a two-night residency in Kennewick in November 2025 as part of his “Cold Beer & Country Music Tour.”
The tour takes him through Europe early in 2026.
He’ll return to the Pacific Northwest by July 2026, when he’s scheduled as a headliner at the Pendleton Whisky Music Festival in Oregon.