As voting kicks off for the 2025 Grammy Awards, Recording Academy members who are looking to nominate one of the biggest artists of the year, Zach Bryan, won’t find his name anywhere on the ballot — Bryan has declined to submit his music for consideration.
Joining the likes of The Weeknd, Macklemore, Frank Ocean, and other high-profile artists who’ve opted out of Grammy consideration in the past, Bryan has reportedly chosen to skip the event “based on feeling that he does not feel comfortable with awards shows making music competitive,” according to Variety.
That discomfort hasn’t stopped Bryan from participating in the past — in fact, he actually won a Grammy earlier this year for his duet with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” — but the move generally fits with his ethos of challenging the machinery of the music industry. He is, after all, the guy who released a live album titled All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster.
Still, it’s worth noting that Bryan has put out quite a few releases over the past year that would’ve been competitive entries, like his 2023 EP Boys of Faith — which featured duets with Noah Kahan and Bon Iver — and his recently-released fifth studio album, The Great American Bar Scene, which included the hits “28” and “Pink Skies” and was named by Consequence as one of the best albums of July 2024.
Additionally, Bryan has proven to be one of the most popular live acts in America, bringing in $93.2 million gross for his gigs in the month of August alone. He’ll soon hit the road again in November for dates across the US and Canada, followed by a headlining appearance at Stagecoach 2025. Get tickets to his upcoming shows here.