TYLER, Texas (KETK) – East Texas native and award-winning country music artist, Kacey Musgraves, was honored as one of 12 in TIME magazine’s Women of the Year list.

She was invited to perform at TIME’s invitation-only Women of the Year gala in Los Angeles on International Women’s Day on March 8.

“This is such an exuberant honor and thrill. Thank you,” the 33-year-old said in a tweet in response to TIME.

Musgraves spoke to TIME about being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

“I have been told ‘no’ a lot in terms of something that I would want to take a creative risk on,” Musgraves told TIME. “I decided I’d rather go down in flames for something I really believe in than present a watered-down version of myself that may make me more money. You have to fight that until you can get to a place where you can have total creative freedom, and I’m getting there.”

In her interview with TIME, Musgraves also talked about her personal life to her career now.

Coined a genre-blending artist by TIME, Musgraves grew up in Golden, Texas near Mineola and started off in the country duo Texas Two Bits, toured through Texas and released an independent album called “Wanted: One Good Cowboy.”

In 2012, Musgraves released her debut single “Merry Go Round” under Mercury Nashville. She later released her major-label debut album, “Same Trailer Different Park.” Her single won the Best Country Song Grammy nomination and her album won Best Country Album in 2014.

After releasing “Pageant Material” and her Christmas album “A Very Kacey Christmas,” Musgraves broke records in 2018 with “Golden Hour.”

“Golden Hour” earned her several Grammys including:

• Album of the Year
• Best Country Song with “Space Cowboy”
• Best Country Solo Performance with “Butterflies”

Her album told the story of falling in love with her husband Ruston Kelly, only to go through a divorce and write her recent album Star-Crossed which she released in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2021.

Although she was given two Grammy nominations for her song “Camera Roll,” her album overall was deemed ineligible for Best Country Album.

“Anytime you get recognized for your work, it’s a huge compliment,” Musgraves spoke to TIME. “But being able to have those things has never shaped what I’m creating.”

According to an email obtained by Rolling Stone, from Cindy Mabe, President of Universal Music Group Nashville, to the Recording Academy, “Star-Crossed” was not eligible for contention in the Country Album category and was instead ruled eligible for Pop Vocal album. The letter argued excluding the record, which was tagged as “country” in streaming and metadata, set a dangerous precedent for the genre.

“Genres were necessary in a time where you would physically walk into a record store and need to browse shelves that were categorically separated,” Musgraves continued. “Now, mixing genres is encouraged. I can’t tell you what category any of my albums belong in because they’re a patchwork quilt of all the things I’m inspired by.”

Musgraves recently finished her tour “Star-Crossed: Unveiled” in February 2022 and was recently a Vanguard Award Recipient for the 33 GLAAD Media Awards.