2020 Grammy Awards: Predicting The Biggest Winners

Nominees: 'Desperate Man' - Eric Church, 'Stronger Than Truth' - Reba McEntire, 'Interstate Gospel' - Pistol Annies, 'Center Point Road' - Thomas Rhett, 'While I'm Livin' - Tanya Tucker

The Grammys made a statement last year by awarding Kacey Musgraves Album Of The Year along with wins in each of the country music categories she was nominated for.

It was a bold and much needed move that felt designed to push the genre into new territory by awarding an innovative sound and unique voice rather than the status quo. Country music desperately needs to evolve, and Kacey Musgraves was one of the people leading the charge to make that happen.

This year, however, it looks like The Recording Academy could possibly be backtracking on that stance a bit.

None of the albums nominated here are as daring as Musgraves' 'Golden Hour'. In fact, two of these entries are from classic country singers, rather than new acts.

There's some fairly good reasons for that this year though. Tanya Tucker has never won a Grammy in the 14 times she's been nominated, and the legendary Reba McEntire only has two wins for country music in her entire career.

Additionally, Miranda Lambert's exciting new solo album 'Wildcard' fell out of the nomination period despite its 2019 release. It should be a strong favorite next year if The Recording Academy aims to continue to push country music into new territory. This year, however, Lambert is up for 'Interstate Gospel' as one-third of Pistol Annies alongside Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley.

It will be interesting to see whether the Grammys foreshadow Lambert's country wins next year in the 2020 awards, or if they choose to right the wrong of having overlooked some of the most storied female country singers.

Expect this to be a tight category, but for Tucker's 'While I'm Livin' to come away victorious and give the singer her first Grammy.

Winner: 'While I'm Livin' - Tanya Tucker