If Dierks Bentley got upset every time he was nominated for a Grammy Award but didn’t win, he’d have wasted half a month of his life.

The “She Hates Me” singer was country music’s leader in a dubious Grammy category: Most nominations without a win. However, his total was topped at the 2025 Grammy Awards.

“I put zero stock in that,” he tells Taste of Country Nights. “In some ways, it’s almost more beneficial to be kind of on the outside and not be too inside industry politics and all of that.”

• A sound engineer named Chris Gehringer is the all-genre leader, with 21 nominations and no wins.
• He’s followed by an Indian classical music conductor named Zubin Mehta, who has 18 nominations.
• Bentley is eighth overall, with 15 Grammy nominations and zero wins. His most recent came in 2024 in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category.

Related: 18 Country Legends Who’ve Never Won a Grammy

At the 2025 Grammys, Post Malone added eight nominations to his total to give him 18 lifetime nominations. He’s now No. 1 in country music.

“Good company to be in,” Bentley cracks. It’s all part of this week’s conversation on the Taste of Country Nights: On Demand podcast.

In all seriousness, he didn’t sound too bummed out about it. Talking to Evan Paul, Bentley smiled as he left unsaid thoughts on the awards show, well, unsaid.

“It’s a very interesting awards show, let’s leave it that way,” he shares.

“I know this is probably a cliché thing to say, but I’m always honored to be nominated. I mean there’s only a few people nominated,” he says. “They get it right sometimes and they get it wrong sometimes.”

Among Bentley’s nominations: A trio of Best Country Album nods, two Best Male Country Vocal Performance nominations, two Best Country Song nominations and three Best Country Duo/Group Performance recognitions.

It’s hard to say which of his nominations was most deserving, but fans may point to the Up On the Ridge album or “Different for Girls,” his collaboration with Elle King.

“She Hates Me” is Bentley’s newest song, released to radio last week. He didn’t provide too many details about his upcoming album, but said the cutting breakup song was written during a session that also produced several deep lyrical cuts.