How Lari White could win a Grammy this weekend

Could Lari White win a Grammy?

With the 2026 Grammy Awards just days away, an unexpected spotlight is turning toward the late Lari White—one of Nashville’s most versatile and quietly influential creative forces. White, who built a career as a powerhouse 90s country vocalist, studio producer, and songwriter, could be on the verge of earning her fourth Grammy, this time thanks to a song she co‑wrote years before her death in 2018.

Candi Staton’s 2025 album, titled Back to My Roots, features the track In God’s Hands We Rest Untroubled. The album has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Roots Gospel Soul Album for the upcoming 68th Annual Grammy Awards.

Co-written by White, the album’s final track carries White's award-winning creative fingerprint with an emotional blend of country, soul, and gospel influences.

What if Candi Staton wins?

If soul legend Candi Staton’s gospel album is honored with a Grammy on February 1, the win would not only mark a triumphant late‑career moment for the gospel‑soul vocalist. It would also secure White a posthumous Grammy as a credited songwriter on the project, adding a new chapter to a legacy already defined by boundary‑breaking creativity.

For fans and industry peers who continue to celebrate White’s contributions, the nomination serves as a reminder of how enduring her work remains—still resonating, still inspiring, and still earning recognition years after her death.

"In God’s Hands"

Months before her passing in early 2018, Lari White released her first all-new music in more than a decade. New Loves — marketed as the double-disc project Old Friends, New Loves — featured a greatest hits EP and an EP of seven brand new songs by White. One of the new tracks — In God’s Hands, was written by Lari White, Chuck Cannon and Jimmy Alan Stewart — and originally pitched to Staton years earlier.

White’s version, released in February of 2017, can be heard on YouTube, or wherever you stream music.

Best Roots Gospel Soul Album

Candi Staton’s 2025 album, which includes In God’s Hands We Rest Untroubled, is nominated for Best Roots Gospel Soul Album. The song was co‑written by Lari White, whose influence across country, gospel, and soul music continues to ripple long after her passing. If Staton wins on February 1, the honor would extend beyond the legendary vocalist herself, securing White another Grammy — her fourth — this time as a credited songwriter.

For Staton, 85, the Grammy nod marks a powerful late‑career resurgence, blending her signature gospel‑soul sound with contemporary production and legendary vocal delivery. For White’s admirers, the recognition underscores how enduring her songwriting remains—capable of shaping new work, new projects, and new accolades years after she first penned the words.

A win would place both women in the Grammy spotlight together: a gospel-soul legend receiving long‑overdue recognition for a lifetime of recordings, the other honored for a creative songwriting legacy that refuses to fade.