Kacey Musgraves claps back at controversial Grammys ruling: 'You can’t take the country out of the girl'

"You can take the girl out of the country (genre) but you can't take the country out of the girl," Musgraves tweeted alongside a throwback photo of herself as a child, wearing a pink cowboy hat.

Variety's Jem Asward and Chris Willman provided more context on the Recording Academy's controversial decision:

"This year—according to the letter to Mason from Musgraves' label head, Universal Music Group Nashville president Cindy Mabe—the country screening committee determined that the singer's new album actually belongs in the pop categories. That actually is a legitimate argument for virtually any knowledgable music fan  who listens to star-crossed, but is dramatically contradicted by the fact that the album sounds stylistically similar to (and was created by many of the same people as) Musgraves’ previous effort, Golden Hour, which won album of the year in 2019—and three country Grammys."

Star-crossed, Musgraves' fourth solo studio album, arrived Sept. 10 and has so far peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, yet hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart.

The 64th Grammy Awards are scheduled for Jan. 31, 2022. Nominees will be announced Nov. 23.