Billy Strings Wins Entertainer of the Year for a Fifth Time at IBMA Awards
Billy Strings was named Entertainer of the Year at the 2026 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards on Oct. 22, his fifth win in the top category. The ceremony was held at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to Billboard.
He had already taken the award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, runs the awards and the wider World of Bluegrass event, which continues through Oct. 24 in the same downtown area. Sam Bush and Sierra Hull hosted the show.
Hull had a night of her own. She won Mandolin Player of the Year, her eighth win in that category. The awards are voted on by the bluegrass community, and the list of winners covered most of the major prizes.
East Nash Grass took Album of the Year for All God's Children, an album produced by Jake Stargel and the band. The group also won Instrumental Group of the Year. Authentic Unlimited was named Vocal Group of the Year.
Trey Hensley won Song of the Year for "Can't Outrun the Blues." Bryan Sutton and Billy Strings took Music Video of the Year for "The Devil Went Down to Deep Gap."
Several individual prizes went to performers at earlier stages of their careers. Mason Via was named New Artist of the Year. Greg Blake won Male Vocalist of the Year, and Jaelee Roberts won Female Vocalist of the Year.
The Bluegrass Hall of Fame added four names. Byron Berline, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Lost & Found and Barry Poss, a cofounder of Sugar Hill Records, were inducted at the ceremony.
Earlier in the week, the IBMA handed out its Momentum Awards at its Business Conference, on Oct. 21. Helen Ludé received the award for Industry Involvement, and Pammy Davis Lassiter was named Mentor of the Year. Jean-Baptiste Cardineau, Lydia Hamby, Luciya Sullivan and Scott Sutton were also among the 2026 Momentum recipients. These awards recognise work behind the stage and in the offices, the people who book the shows, run the labels and teach the next players.
Nominations for the main awards were announced in July. Entertainer of the Year nominees were Billy Strings, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Sister Sadie and East Nash Grass.
For the musicians and crews in Chattanooga, the week is also a working one. Festival stages, sound checks and travel all have to run on schedule, and the awards show is the final push in a long run of performances and meetings.
