50 Fun Facts About 90s Country Music

Which singer made country a worldwide phenomenon in the 1990s, breaking sales and attendance records?

He fused neotraditional country with stadium rock. His 1997 Central Park concert drew 980,000 people.

How is the decade's biggest star's sound described?

The live show borrowed from arena rock, ropes and all. Traditionalists complained; the tickets sold anyway.

Where is that superstar from?

He was born in Tulsa in February 1962. He is the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States.

How many domestic album units has that superstar sold in the United States?

That puts him ahead of Elvis Presley for solo albums. Only bands have sold more.

How long did No Fences spend at number one on the country albums chart?

It came out in 1990. Its follow-up managed something no country album had done before.

What did Ropin' the Wind achieve in 1991 that no country album had before?

The album chart had never opened with a country record at the top. The genre's commercial ceiling disappeared overnight.

How many fans attended the decade's biggest star's 1997 Central Park concert?

It remains the largest concert in the park's history. It was broadcast live on television.

What was the name of the rock alter ego that superstar adopted in 1999?

The character was meant to headline a film that never happened. The album confused nearly everyone.

In which year did that superstar announce his retirement from recording and performing?

He returned with a comeback world tour in September 2014. The break lasted well over a decade.

Which country was the Canadian star born in?

She was born Eilleen Regina Edwards in August 1965. She became the best-selling female country artist of the decade.

What was the Canadian star's name at birth?

The stage name came later. She was born in Ontario in 1965.

How many copies has Come On Over sold worldwide?

That makes it the best-selling studio album by a female solo artist in any genre. It was released in 1997.

Which producer did the Canadian star work with, and later marry?

He had produced AC/DC and Def Leppard before turning to country. The pair co-wrote almost every song on her breakthrough album.

How many Grammy Awards did songs from Come On Over win?

The album spent three separate years among the world's best sellers. It broke country music out of North America entirely.

For which three consecutive years was Come On Over one of the world's best-selling albums?

It sold across markets that had never bought country records. She is credited with breaking international boundaries for the genre.

Which 1992 single by Billy Ray Cyrus set off a nationwide line dance craze?

It came from the album Some Gave All. The music video is credited with taking line dancing mainstream.

Under what title was that song originally recorded by the Marcy Brothers in 1991?

They changed some of the lyrics as well. The Cyrus version spent five weeks at number one on the country chart.

How high did that single climb on the Billboard Hot 100?

It was a genuine crossover hit on pop and country radio. On the country chart it spent five weeks at the top.

In which year were the Dixie Chicks founded?

Martie and Emily Erwin started the band with Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy.

Who became the group's third lead singer, shortly before they signed a major deal?

The line-up change coincided with their commercial breakthrough. Their 1998 debut went on to sell in the millions.

How many platinum certifications did Wide Open Spaces reach by March 2020?

Their 1999 follow-up Fly reached ten times platinum. Few country debuts have ever sold like it.

What did the group do at the 2007 Grammy Awards?

It followed three years of country radio boycotts. The sweep included Album and Record of the Year.

What did the band change about its name in 2020?

The change came in June that year. They had used the original name since 1989.

Which singer holds the record for the most number one songs by any artist in any genre?

The tally stands at 60 across all charts. He is known as the King of Country Music.

How many number one songs does that singer have across all charts?

No artist in any genre has more. His career began in the early 1980s and never really slowed.

What is the singer's nickname?

His influence on the genre is the reason for the title.

In which 1992 film did that singer play the lead?

Its soundtrack became his most successful studio album. Acting did not become a second career.

In which state was that singer born?

Poteet was the town, and he grew up in nearby Pearsall. The Texas dancehall sound runs through everything he recorded.

Where was Alan Jackson born?

His songs are among the most traditional of the 1990s boom.

How many records has Alan Jackson sold worldwide?

Around 44 million of those were sold in the United States.

Which 1992 Alan Jackson single is named after a Georgia river?

It came from his third album, alongside another number one. The video of him water-skiing in jeans became inescapable.

How many Country Music Association Awards has Alan Jackson won?

He also has seventeen Academy of Country Music Awards and two Grammys. The 1991 album Don't Rock the Jukebox produced four number one singles.

Which Alan Jackson album, released in 1991, produced four number one singles?

The title track was one of them. The album helped define the traditionalist side of the decade.

Who was the best-selling female country artist of the 1990s?

She is credited with pulling country music into international markets.

What is the Canadian star credited with doing for country music?

She also inspired other country artists to borrow from other genres. The strategy widened the audience enormously.

How many platinum certifications did the Dixie Chicks' 1999 album Fly reach?

Their 1998 debut was certified twelve times platinum. Two albums in a row sold at rock-star scale.

Which country singer, whose career began in the 1980s, kept having widespread success through the 1990s?

He holds the record for number one singles in any genre. The 1990s were the decade the genre went stadium-sized around him.

When did that superstar begin his comeback world tour?

He had announced his retirement in October 2000. The tour ran for years and broke attendance records again.

What was Billy Ray Cyrus's debut album called?

It contained the line-dance single that made him famous. That song had been recorded by another act the year before.

How many weeks did that single spend at the top of the country singles chart?

On the pop chart it peaked at number four. The video did as much work as the record.

Which duo's 1992 single 'Boot Scootin' Boogie' helped repopularize line dancing in the US?

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn went on to notch 20 number ones on the Hot Country Songs chart before their 2010 farewell show in Nashville.

Which 1990 No Fences lead single was written on paper napkins and won CMA Single of the Year?

Co-writer Earl Bud Lee got the idea after forgetting his money at a Nashville lunch and quipping that he knew the cook.

Which 1998 Faith Hill hit was her first single to cross over onto the pop charts?

It topped the country chart and reached number seven on the pop side, setting up the even bigger crossover of Breathe the next year.

LeAnn Rimes's 1996 breakthrough 'Blue' had originally been pitched in 1963 to which singer?

Rimes was 13 when the song hit, and the version that charted was a recording she had made at age 11.

The Dixie Chicks were founded in 1989 in which Texas city?

The original lineup of Laura Lynch, Robin Lynn Macy and the Erwin sisters spent six years busking and playing bluegrass festivals before the big break.

What was Tim McGraw's first country number one, from his 1994 album Not a Moment Too Soon?

The ballad also reached number 17 on the Hot 100 and cemented his image as a rugged guy with a sensitive side.

Which 1995 album was the Canadian star's breakthrough before Come On Over?

It sold more than 12 million copies in the US alone, earning Diamond certification, and almost every track was co-written with her new husband.

In 1991 Reba McEntire lost eight band members in a plane crash near which city?

She dedicated her next album, For My Broken Heart, to them; it became her highest-selling record.

Whose manager's card did Alan Jackson's flight-attendant wife get from a passenger in the 1980s?

Jackson then became the first artist signed to the newly formed Arista Nashville label in 1989.

Which songwriter and producer suggested in 1988 that Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn team up?

Both men had charted two solo singles apiece in the 1980s before the pairing signed to Arista Nashville.