Taylor Swift & Walker Hayes Lead 2022 Billboard Music Award Country Nominations

Taylor Swift is the top country artist contender at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. 

Swift is a finalist in seven categories including ‘Top Artist’ for a record-extending eighth time. Her 25 previous wins make her the most decorated female artist of all time at the Billboard Music Awards. She is also a finalist twice in the top country album category this year for Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version).

Swift is up for ‘Top Country Female Artist’ with Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert too. Underwood is also nominated for two Christian awards, while Lambert’s Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) duet with Elle King scored a nod for ‘Top Rock Song’.

Walker Hayes follows with six nominations including ‘Top Country Artist’ alongside Swift, Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen. In fact, Stapleton and Wallen are tied with Underwood with four nominations while Combs is up for three awards in total. 

Other country artists to receive nominations include Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Lee Brice, Jordan Davis, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Zac Brown Band. 

Five new categories were unveiled this year, with four based on Billboard’s first authoritative global charts and one measuring viral songs. This brings the total number of categories to 62. This year’s awards are based on the tracking period of March 26, 2021, through March 17, 2022. That corresponds to Billboard chart dates of April 10, 2021, through March 26, 2022.

Billboard Music Awards finalists and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Luminate (formerly MRC Data).

The Billboard Music Awards have celebrated music’s greatest achievements for more than 30 years. Unique among music awards shows, finalists are determined by performance on the Billboard charts. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the most authoritative guide for ranking the popularity of artists, songs and albums.

The 2022 Billboard Music Awards are set to air Sunday, May 15th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Check out the full rundown of country nominations, and which country artists are fighting for the genre in the all-genre categories below: 

ARTIST AWARDS

Top Artist

Doja Cat
Drake
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd

Top Female Artist

Adele
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

Top Billboard 200 Artist

Adele
Drake
Juice WRLD
Morgan Wallen
Taylor Swift

Top Song Sales Artist

Adele
BTS
Dua Lipa
Ed Sheeran
Walker Hayes

Top Country Artist

Chris Stapleton
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Taylor Swift
Walker Hayes

Top Country Male Artist

Chris Stapleton
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen

Top Country Female Artist

Carrie Underwood
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift

Top Country Duo/Group

Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Zac Brown Band

Top Country Tour

Luke Bryan (Proud to Be Right Here Tour)
Eric Church (Gather Again Tour)
Chris Stapleton (All-American Road Show Tour)

Top Christian Artist

Carrie Underwood
Elevation Worship
for King & Country
Lauren Daigle
Ye

ALBUM AWARDS

Top Billboard 200 Album

Adele, 30
Doja Cat, Planet Her
Drake, Certified Lover Boy
Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
Olivia Rodrigo, SOUR

Top Country Album

Florida Georgia Line, Life Rolls On
Lee Brice, Hey World
Taylor Swift, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version)
Walker Hayes, Country Stuff: The Album

Top Christian Album

Carrie Underwood, My Savior
CeCe Winans, Believe for It
Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music, Old Church Basement
Phil Wickham, Hymn of Heaven
Ye, Donda

SONG AWARDS

Top Selling Song

BTS, “Butter”
BTS, “Permission to Dance”
Dua Lipa, “Levitating”
Ed Sheeran, “Bad Habits”
Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”

Top Viral Song (NEW)

Doja Cat ft. SZA, “Kiss Me More”
Gayle, “abcdefu”
Glass Animals, “Heat Waves”
Masked Wolf, “Astronaut In The Ocean”
Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”

Top Country Song

Chris Stapleton, “You Should Probably Leave”
Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You”
Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt”
Luke Combs, “Forever After All”
Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”

Top Rock Song

Coldplay X BTS, “My Universe”
Elle King & Miranda Lambert, “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”
Imagine Dragons, “Follow You”
Måneskin, “Beggin’”
The Anxiety: Willow & Tyler Cole, “Meet Me at Our Spot”

-----------------

You can check out the full list of nominees here.