Morgan Wallen Is Reportedly Declining To Submit ‘I’m The Problem’ For Grammy Consideration

Matt Paskert

Saying “no, thank you.”

Is Morgan Wallen making a statement? It’s that time of year when artists are thinking about submitting their studio projects to The Recording Academy for Grammy consideration.

The Online Entry Process for the 2026 GRAMMYs opened on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, and will run through Friday, August 29, 2025. During this time, all Recording Academy members and registered Media Companies must submit their eligible recordings for Grammy consideration. Once the Academy receives its submissions, which can number up to 20,000, the process begins to narrow down the submissions. Eventually, the Recording Academy places its votes for who it wants to receive the prestigious award in each category, announcing the nominations for each category. 

With the submission period soon coming to a close, Hits Daily Double reported today that Morgan Wallen is NOT submitting his chart-topping album I’m The Problem for Grammy consideration.

Per the outlet:

“Sources in the 615 tell us that Morgan Wallen has elected not to submit his chart-topping album ‘I’m the Problem’ (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic)—far and away the biggest release of the year—for Grammy consideration.  

The Academy’s gatekeepers, you’ll recall, have never been particularly receptive to Wallen, though those who ought to know tell us there was no rancor in the decision, which they described as a measured ‘No, thank you.’”

They are not wrong as Wallen continues to dominate with I’m The Problem spending his 13th straight week at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. The numbers that this LP has put up are impressive to say the least. The success of I’m The Problem has extended Wallen’s record lead with the most weeks spent at #1 with a staggering 199.

Additionally, the Tennessee native became the first artist ever to spend at least 10 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with three consecutive albums, breaking his own record back in May after charting a staggering 37 different songs on the Billboard Hot 100 after the release of I’m The Problem. 

Say what you want about Morgan Wallen, but his projects are the definition of peak performance, the kind of success that most artists, regardless of genre, can only dream about. Of course, declining to submit awards for Grammys isn’t unheard of. Zach Bryan and The Weeknd both made headlines for similar moves last year.

Why Is Wallen Not Submitting His Album For Consideration?

The answer is unclear, but Wallen does have a complicated relationship with the Grammy Awards and award shows in general. After hardly acknowledging his 2024 CMA Entertainer of the Year Award, Morgan Wallen does not put a lot of public emphasis on awards.

Of course, that dates back to 2023, when Wallen was blocked from many award opportunities after his headline-making racial slur incident and disregard for COVID protocols (both captured on video) a couple of years ago. The latter of which was of course pretty laughable, but I’m sure the triple-vaxxed cast of SNL took it very seriously.

However, in the past, when Wallen submitted songs that exceeded the definition of success, his submitted work for consideration did not result in a Grammy nomination.

In 2023, Variety reported that Wallen was excluded from that year’s awards because the Academy did not align with his “hyper-commercial country” sound. While that statement was not directed directly at Wallen, it certainly felt that way when Tracy Gershon, a trustee of the Recording Academy’s Nashville chapter, cautioned artists never to assume that commercial success guarantees a nomination.

“I would say, unlike other awards, the Grammy voters don’t necessarily vote on commercial popularity. In fact, they tend to vote on artistic merit.”

That year, Wallen easily had the “song of the summer” with his mega-hit “Last Night,” and (just like this year) was topping charts and taking names with the release of his 36-song double album, One Thing at a Time.

“Artistic merit” is a vague term that ultimately seems like a bit of a nonstarter. Countless artists should be nominated for Grammy Awards, but they often go overlooked because they lack a huge fan base or are not on the charts. So, while it’s true that once you reach a certain level, more “artistic merit” might come into play – let’s call a spade a spade – it’s not the only factor when the Recording Academy casts their votes.

ESPECIALLY given the nominees last year… let’s just take a quick look at last year’s nominees who included Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton, Beyonce, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson and a few others. And while many of them are very talented, that list is the epitome of commercial popularity.

If Wallen is not in the running for Best Country Album this year, it will be interesting to see who secures the nominations. But it will be more interesting to see where certain artists stand with the announcement of the new category, Best Traditional Country Album. Stay tuned…

Nominations for the 2026 GRAMMYs will be announced on Friday, November 7, 2025. The 68th Grammy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, February 1, 2026.