John Rich blames Grammy politics for Beyonce’s Best Country Album win: 'They make deals with each other'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The 2025 Grammy Awards are making waves for unforgettable moments and intense backlash. Among the controversial moments, John Rich called out Beyonce's win for Best Country Album for 'Cowboy Carter' in a fiery post on X (formerly Twitter).

Big & Rich’s John Rich slammed the Grammys, blaming industry politics for awarding Beyonce over Lainey Wilson. His criticism sparked online support, with some users sharing mocking memes, especially highlighting Beyonce’s surprised reaction to her win.

What did John Rich say about Beyonce’s 2025 Grammy win?

On February 3, John Rich took to X to voice his frustration over the Grammy categories awarded to Beyonce.

In a post that quickly garnered over 2.8K likes, Rich began by addressing followers’ questions about how music award shows work. He explained, "Labels/publishers all have blocks of votes. They make deals with each other "you vote for mine, we'll vote for yours" type thing."

Continuing in his fiery post, Rich criticized Beyonce’s win for Country Album of the Year, saying, "It has ZERO to do with who made the best music, thus, Beyonce with "Country album of the year." Nice, right?" He expressed, "The same thing is true with the CMA's, ACM's, Billboard, etc...all work exactly the same. " 

"Last night, the Grammy's outed themselves in a big way," he added. When one X user expressed confusion, wondering if Beyonce even sang country music, Rich responded bluntly, "She doesn't."

Notably, Beyonce took home the Best Country Album trophy, edging out other notable nominees like Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, and Chris Stapleton. In addition to her country album win,

Beyonce also claimed Album of the Year and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for 'II Most Wanted' alongside Miley Cyrus.

Rich also took to X to share his prediction for the country album award, stating, ".@laineywilson > @Beyonce."

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr reveals changes to Grammy voting system 

Beyonce's win for Best Country Album followed significant changes made by Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr to diversify the Grammy voting body since his appointment in 2020.

Mason shared, “The Grammy electorate is now younger, nearly 40 percent people of color, and 66 percent of our members are new," as per DailyMail.

He emphasized, “It's a system rooted in fairness, integrity, and the principle that every voice in our community matters."

Mason concluded, “There's still work to be done, but I firmly believe we’re on the right path.”

Internet joins John Rich in slamming Grammy politics over Beyonce's win 

Within hours of John Rich's tweet on X, it quickly racked up over 1.9 million views, with 51K people showing their support for his post criticizing Beyonce's win.

One user wrote, "I remember when it was so fun and exciting to watch the awards. Now it's a group of creepy people patting them selves on the back, giving themselves awards they dont deserve in a club of evilness. It's disturbing to watch." 

One person declared, "Beyonce did not deserve Country album of the year!"

An online user expressed frustration, "Yea its ridiculous Beyonce would have to work really hard to make good country music and clearly she did not. This is a disgusting display of money and power."

Another dubbed, "Beyonce getting an award for country album of the year is a joke."

A disappointed fan said, "My hope was for Chris Stapleton or Lainey Wilson, both are super talented. DEI strikes again!"

A comment raised speculation about Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z, being involved, "I’m sure Jay Z paid a pretty penny to get her a win. Beyonce’s album was horrible, Lainey should have won hands down."

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