Recently, the GRAMMY awards have added a second country category to their roster, for "Best Traditional Country Album." Music Television's VMAs have been one of the top award shows for artists since the 1980s. Still, they didn't decide to add a country category until just recently. This year, the VMAs will finally feature an award category for "Best Country" in their 42nd year of running.
Videos by Wide Open Country
For this category, there are six featured nominees. For its first year, the nominees are:
Chris Stapleton: "Think I'm in Love With You"
Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood: "I'm Gonna Love You"
Jelly Roll: "Liar"
Lainey Wilson: "4X4XU"
Megan Moroney: "Am I Okay?"
Morgan Wallen: "Smile"
A Brief History Of Country Artists At The VMAs
Some artists, like Jelly Roll, are featured as nominees in multiple categories this time around. His nominations span several genres - including Best Hip-Hop and Best Alternative, showcasing his versatility as an artist overall. His success has been pivotal in bridging the gap between country, rock, and hip-hop audiences, which is why he has received multiple nominations.
Other artists, such as Taylor Swift, who received a VMA in 2009, have also served as a bridge. Back when there wasn't a country category, Swift took the award for her "You Belong With Me" video. Today, this video has over 1.7 billion views and is one of her most iconic to date. Many fans of Taylor will remember this night as a pivotal moment in pop culture, for both Swift and the rapper Kanye.
When going up to receive the award for "Best Female Video," Kanye interrupted her speech, saying, "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!" The rapper was referencing Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" music video, which was also nominated in the category.
Although Swift has often highlighted the moment as one that she cares not to look back on, her winning the award did help to shed light on country music's contribution to music videos in media, even if it took the VMAs 15 years to give the genre its own category.
Fans can watch the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards live on Sunday, September 7, 2025, at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT. Voting for most of the fan-voted categories will close on Friday, September 5, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. ET, except for Best New Artist, which closes September 7th.
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