65th Grammy Awards: Lainey Wilson, Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown and More Country Stars We Wish Were Included | CPT PPP Coverage

Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Luke Combs and Ashley McBryde are the top country nominees at the 65th Grammy Awards, which will air Sunday on CBS. And while we’re pleased as pie for them, there are a few names we wish we were seeing more of – or at least once.

Our biggest regret is that Lainey Wilson won’t be there. Her new album “Bell Bottom Country” didn’t qualify for inclusion because it was released in October, and Sept. 30 was the cutoff. However, with as much success as Wilson has accumulated in the last year, she seemed ripe for an all-genre Best New Artist nomination. And if not that, surely a nod in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance for her chart-topping duet “Never Say Never” with Cole Swindell was more than deserved. And, that nomination would have honored Swindell, too, who is one of country music’s most overlooked talents.

Like Wilson, 2022 was a banner year in Swindell’s career. The Georgia native released “Stereotype,” his fifth album, in 2022. The collection is home to multi-week No. 1 hits “Single Saturday Night,” “Never Say Never” and “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” Swindell notched 27 weeks in the Top 5 on country radio in 2022.

Kane Brown released his album “Different Man” within the voting period and has matured as a singer, songwriter and performer to the point it should be impossible for voters of any organization to overlook his work.

Perennial Grammy favorites Little Big Town were also shockingly overlooked for their album “Mr. Sun.”

In addition to Brown and Little Big Town being absent from country album and country performance categories, Carrie Underwood is also nowhere to be found. Underwood, who has eight Grammy trophies to her credit, released her “Denim and Rhinestones” album this summer.  

And then we’re back to the Best New Artist category. We’re thrilled Molly Tuttle was recognized, but where is Zach Bryan? While we know the Grammys isn’t a popularity contest based on sales numbers, it seems Bryan and his direct approach to country music was prime for all-genre favor. Bryan is nominated for “Something in the Orange” in the country performance category.

With her seven nods, Brandi Carlile is all over the top categories, but she’s absent from the one that seemed the most obvious – the new Songwriter of the Year category. She is being celebrated for “You and Me on the Rock” in Record of the Year and the album it’s from – “These Silent Days” — in Album of the Year. But, for some reason, she was skipped for writing it.

Taylor Swift is also noticeably absent in places. She rerecorded the 30-song tracklist from “Red” and called the album “Red (Taylor’s Version).” Swift is up in four categories, including Song of the Year for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and Best Country Song for “I Bet You Think About Me,” both from “Red (Taylor’s Version).” However, the album was abandoned when it came to nominations.

Outside of country music, top nominees include Beyoncé with nine nods – primarily for her “Renaissance” album; Kendrick Lamar, who has eight mentions; Adele and Carlile, with seven nods each; and Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, Future, DJ Khaled and The-Dream, with six.

Catch the 65th Grammy Awards 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Sunday on CBS.