15 Country Albums We’re Excited to Hear in 2026
New projects from Ashley McBryde and Luke Combs, plus the debut of Kashus Culpepper, have us psyched for the coming year
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New projects from Ashley McBryde and Luke Combs, plus the debut of Kashus Culpepper, have us psyched for the coming year
January 7, 2026
Jason Kempin/Getty Images; Erika Goldring/WireImage; Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Veterans exploring new avenues, long-awaited debuts, and second albums from promising superstars are all on tap for country music in 2026. These are 15 albums we’re anxiously waiting to see hit the streets.
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Luke Combs
Image Credit: Sacha Lecca for Rolling Stone
Title: _The Way I Am
_Release Date: March 20After a detour into heart-tugging material with 2024’s personal Fathers & Sons album, Combs came roaring back with high-profiles appearances at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza and barnburner singles like “My Kinda Saturday Night” and “Back in the Saddle.” Those songs, as well as the smoldering new ballad “Sleepless in a Hotel Room,” are all set to appear on The Way I Am, the North Carolina singer’s sixth studio album, dropping this spring with a tour to follow. —J.H.
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Zach Bryan
Image Credit: JAKE MULKA for Rolling Stone
Title: With Heaven on Top
Release Date: Jan. 9After releasing three albums in three years, Bryan took all of last year to work on his forthcoming record. He also went through a whole lot of life, including a high-profile break-up and a subsequent under-the-radar marriage. As early as the fall of 2024, however, the infamously prolific Bryan had 14 songs written. “I’m not sure how I wanna record a lot of ’em,” he told Bruce Springsteen in a Rolling Stone cover story. “This is the first time in my life where I’ve given myself time not to know.” On Instagram this month, Bryan promised With Heaven on Top would arrive on Jan. 9. “Hope you don’t hate it,” he wrote. —J.B.
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Kaitlin Butts
Image Credit: Joseph Okpako/WireImage
Title: TBD
Release Date: Summer/FallThe Oklahoma singer, songwriter, and proud theater kid finally leveled up with 2024’s Road Runner! and its viral single “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead to Me).” Now signed to Republic Records and firing on all cylinders — her cover of Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time” bristles with confidence — Butts is expected to drop a bold new album sometime around the third quarter. We’re ready for it.
