The Best Traditional Country Album winner brought a piece of rodeo to music’s biggest night.
When Zach Top walked onstage at the 2026 Grammy Awards to accept his first Grammy, he brought a piece of Texas rodeo with him.
Zach won the Grammy for Best Traditional Country Album, and while the award itself marked a career milestone, many in the Western world noticed something else, the RODEO HOUSTON belt buckle on his waist.
The buckle was presented to Top when he performed at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2025. Each performer at RODEOHOUSTON receives a custom buckle, created by Murphy’s Buckles of Texas, on the day of their show.
According to previous reporting, this marks the second major award Top has accepted while wearing the Houston buckle. He also wore it at the 2025 CMA Awards, where he won New Artist of the Year.
Top’s RodeoHouston performance was a defining moment in his rise. Playing to a sold out crowd of more than 70,000 fans at NRG Stadium, the traditional ’90s country artist further established himself as one of the genre’s fastest rising stars. He even exited the stage horseback. What a fitting detail for an artist whose sound and style lean heavily into classic country roots.
Performing at RODEOHOUSTON is a big deal for a musician. This rodeo is one of the largest and most prestigious in the world. Held annually at NRG Stadium, this event combines professional rodeo competition with major concert performances, drawing millions of attendees each year.
The Grammy Awards are not traditionally associated with Western culture or rodeo at all. This makes this cowboy, and his buckles, appearance on stage even more notable. In a setting often defined by fashion and very mainstream spectacle, Top’s choice to wear his RodeoHouston buckle signaled where his career has been built and what helped build it.
From one of rodeo's biggest arenas to music’s biggest stage, Top carried that connection with him.
