Despite her decade of dominance.
Despite her endless string of #1 hit songs.
Despite her successful tours.
Despite her commendable album sales.
Despite her generally positive reviews.
Despite her constant presence in the country music industry.
Despite her many wins and nominations for Best Country Song / Solo Performance.
Carrie Underwood has never been nominated for Best Country Album at the Grammys.
What an embarrassment for her.
Girls who haven't touched country radio in a decade are scoring nominations and wins in this category.
Girls who have never had a top 40 hit on country radio are scoring nominations in this category.
People who have sold less albums in their lives than Carrie sells in a week have scored nominations in this category.
Even Gretchen Wilson managed to score two Best Country Album nominations at her peak.
I'd say that this is a clear indication that Carrie Underwood is a singles artist, but even Katy Perry—the epitome of a singles artist—managed to score not only a Best Pop Album nomination but also an
Album of the Year nomination.
I'd say that this a clear indication that the Grammys don't respect tv talent show singers, but Carrie has plenty of Grammys for her individual songs—and Kelly Clarkson won Best Pop Album
twice. (Not to mention that Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves were both on tv talent shows early on, and have both won this award).
That leaves only three possible explanations for her lack of a nomination here.
1. Carrie Underwood albums are so utterly unremarkable that no amount of generally positive reviews, hit singles, commercial success, or popularity can secure her a nomination.
2. Voters have so little respect for Carrie Underwood (as a person / artist) that they refuse to support her.
3. There are some sort of label politics at play and the label prioritizes other artists over her in this category.
I honestly think that #2 is the answer.
She hasn't won an ACM award since 2010 and she hasn't won a CMA award since 2008. All she's gotten are three special (non-competitive) awards, and two of those were given to her this year.
The industry has so little respect for her.
