50 Fun Facts About Modern Country Music

Which rapper's Old Town Road was pulled from Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 2019, igniting a row over genre?

Lil Nas X had climbed to number 19 on the country chart when the magazine ruled the song did not fit the genre. A remix with Billy Ray Cyrus followed that April.

Which country star's name did Taylor Swift use as the title of her debut single in 2006?

Tim McGraw came to Swift as an idea during a high school math class, and she finished writing it within 15 minutes. It was the first release from her debut album.

In which retail chain was 11-year-old Mason Ramsey filmed yodeling a Hank Williams song in 2018, earning a record deal?

Walmart in Harrisburg, Illinois, was the setting for his clip of Lovesick Blues. Within weeks the viral video had won Ramsey a deal with Big Loud and Atlantic.

Which singer's 2023 cover of Fast Car made Tracy Chapman the first Black songwriter to win CMA Song of the Year?

Luke Combs took his faithful cover to number one on country radio in July 2023. It won Chapman the Song of the Year prize 35 years after she released the original.

Which trio covered Tom Cochrane's Life Is a Highway for the soundtrack of Pixar's 2006 film Cars?

Rascal Flatts cut the cover for the film, and it proved popular enough to be added as a bonus track to later copies of the group's album Me and My Gang.

Which restaurant chain revived its Oreo shake after Walker Hayes name-checked it in the 2021 hit Fancy Like?

Applebee's had dropped its Oreo Cookie Shake in the wake of the pandemic. The chain brought the dessert back once the song became a hit.

Which pop superstar became the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, with Texas Hold 'Em?

Beyoncé entered the chart at number one with the banjo-led single, a surprise release during the Super Bowl in February 2024. It appears on her album Cowboy Carter.

Which Taylor Swift video had just won at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when Kanye West interrupted her speech?

You Belong with Me had taken Best Female Video when West walked on and grabbed the microphone. Public opinion turned on him, and President Obama called him a jackass.

Which weekly NFL broadcast began opening with a Carrie Underwood theme song in 2013, when she took over from Faith Hill?

Sunday Night Football has changed Underwood's theme more than once. In 2018 she co-wrote a brand-new opener for the show called Game On.

Which artist's 2024 hit A Bar Song (Tipsy) reworks a 2004 J-Kwon rap single and spent 19 weeks atop the Hot 100?

Shaboozey became the first Black man to sit at number one on the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs at the same time. His 19 weeks tied the all-time record of the day.

Which singer from Sneedville, Tennessee, competed on The Voice in 2014 and later released the album One Thing at a Time?

Morgan Wallen had hoped to play college baseball as a pitcher and shortstop until he tore an elbow ligament in his senior year. The 2023 album spent 19 weeks at number one.

Which former SteelDrivers frontman sang Tennessee Whiskey with Justin Timberlake at the 2015 CMA Awards?

Chris Stapleton won three trophies that night, including New Artist of the Year. He had already co-written number-one hits for George Strait and Josh Turner.

Which Kacey Musgraves album, partly recorded above Sheryl Crow's horse stable, won the Album of the Year Grammy in 2019?

Golden Hour won all four Grammys it was nominated for that night. Musgraves has said she wrote two of its songs under the influence of LSD.

Which Zach Bryan duet with Kacey Musgraves entered the Hot 100 at number one in 2023, a first for both singers?

I Remember Everything was the first song to top the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts all at once. It later won the pair a Grammy.

Which Louisiana singer made her acting debut as Abby on Yellowstone and won CMA Entertainer of the Year in 2023?

Lainey Wilson was the first woman to take that prize since Taylor Swift in 2011. On first moving to Nashville she lived in a camper trailer outside a recording studio.

Which Nashville rapper turned country singer scored his first country radio number one with Son of a Sinner in 2023?

Jelly Roll got the nickname from his mother, for his childhood fondness for doughnuts. He spent years in and out of jail before his music took off.

Which rapper-singer's 2024 country album F-1 Trillion features guests including Dolly Parton and Hank Williams Jr.?

Post Malone first reached the country chart in 2023, singing on a re-recording of Joe Diffie's Pickup Man. A year later he had a whole album of Nashville duets.

Which rapper joined Florida Georgia Line on a 2013 remix of Cruise that carried the country hit into the pop top 10?

Nelly helped Cruise become the best-selling digital country song of its day, with over 7 million copies sold. It also spent a then-record 24 weeks atop Hot Country Songs.

Which pair of singers who met at a Nashville house party in 2012 went on to score hits with Tequila and Speechless?

Dan + Shay started writing together the day after they met. The duo later won the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance three years running.

Which Oklahoma-born singer of the 2001 hit Austin was an original coach on NBC's The Voice, staying until 2023?

Blake Shelton coached the winning singer in nine of his 23 seasons on the show. In 2017 he became the first country artist named People's Sexiest Man Alive.

Which TV talent show did Carrie Underwood win in 2005 before returning to it as a judge two decades later?

American Idol made Underwood its fourth champion, and Forbes later declared her the most successful winner the show has produced. She joined its judging panel in 2025.

Which New Zealand-born guitarist, raised in Australia, married actress Nicole Kidman in Sydney in 2006?

Keith Urban met Kidman at a Hollywood event promoting Australia in 2005. He was the first New Zealand-born man to reach the top 10 of the US country charts.

Which singer from Lindale, Texas, finished third on Nashville Star in 2003 and later formed the trio Pistol Annies?

Miranda Lambert caught the attention of a Sony executive who was judging the show and who persuaded the label to sign her. She unveiled Pistol Annies in 2011.

Which Hootie & the Blowfish frontman went country and took a cover of Wagon Wheel to number one in 2013?

Darius Rucker became the first Black artist to win the CMA's New Artist award, in 2009. The song he covered was written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show.

Which singer won fans sharing covers on Facebook, then topped all five main Billboard country charts at once in 2017?

Kane Brown was the first artist to manage that sweep. It was powered by What Ifs, a duet with Lauren Alaina, and the new song Heaven.

Which singer in trademark aviators was fired as a tour opener for overrunning his set, then replaced by Taylor Swift?

Eric Church told Swift she should thank him with her first gold record, and she later sent it. Her note thanked him for playing too long and too loud.

Which Macon-born singer's 2011 hit Dirt Road Anthem, with its rapped verses, was first recorded by co-writer Colt Ford?

Jason Aldean said he did not consider the track a rap song. That did not stop Ludacris from adding a hip-hop verse for a remix after the two performed it at the CMT Music Awards.

Which West Virginia guitarist won CMA Entertainer of the Year in 2010 on a night he co-hosted with Carrie Underwood?

Brad Paisley got his first guitar, a Sears Silvertone, from his grandfather at age eight. He and Underwood fronted the awards show together from 2008 to 2018.

Which Tennessee stadium headliner named his fan club No Shoes Nation at a 2012 concert in Foxborough?

Kenny Chesney took the name from his hit No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem. The fan club flies a black flag with a white skull and crossbones.

Which duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush began as a trio in Atlanta's folk-rock scene before hits like Stay?

Sugarland lost founding member Kristen Hall at the end of 2005, when she left to stay home and write songs. The remaining pair kept the name and carried on as two.

Which trio lost country radio airplay in 2003 after singer Natalie Maines criticized President George W. Bush?

The Chicks, then known as the Dixie Chicks, also received death threats over the remark, made on a London stage. Their 2006 reply, Not Ready to Make Nice, won Record of the Year.

Which trio behind the Grammy-winning Need You Now changed its name in 2020 to shed its echo of the slavery-era South?

Lady A then learned that a Seattle blues singer, Anita White, had performed under that very name for more than 20 years. The clash led to a public dispute.

Which former college quarterback mixed R&B phrasing into country on his 2014 debut album Montevallo?

Sam Hunt played at Middle Tennessee State and UAB, then had a tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs before turning to music. Body Like a Back Road became his biggest hit.

Which Texas-born singer of The Bones supplied the lead vocal on Zedd and Grey's 2018 pop hit The Middle?

Maren Morris had been touring her home state since she was 11 years old. The Middle carried her voice to number five on the Hot 100.

Which Knoxville-raised singer took her debut single Love Me Like You Mean It to the top of Country Airplay in 2015?

Kelsea Ballerini was the first solo woman to reach number one with a debut single since Carrie Underwood in 2006. She wrote her first song at 12, for her mother.

Which singer of Die a Happy Man is the eldest son of the 1990s hitmaker behind That Ain't My Truck?

Thomas Rhett performs under his first and middle names, leaving off the surname Akins that he shares with his father. He was born in Valdosta, Georgia.

Which Kentucky songwriter broke through in 2017 with Purgatory, an album co-produced by Sturgill Simpson?

Tyler Childers won an Americana award the next year, then used his acceptance speech to reject the Americana label. He told the room he identified as a country singer.

Which Texan rode rodeo bulls and worked in a prison before his hit 'Til You Can't won two CMA Awards in 2022?

Cody Johnson left the prison job at 19, after its warden urged him to commit to music full time.

Which country festival is staged each spring in Indio, California, on the same polo grounds as Coachella?

Stagecoach began in 2007 as a sister event to Coachella and takes over the site the weekend after it ends. It first sold out in 2012, with 55,000 fans.

Which Dierks Bentley hit follows a groom, jilted at the altar, who takes the honeymoon trip to Cancún alone?

Drunk on a Plane sends its hero off solo because he cannot get a refund on the tickets. Bentley co-wrote the up-tempo song himself.

Which singer's Black Like Me made her the first Black woman nominated for the Best Country Solo Performance Grammy?

Mickey Guyton saw commercial country radio largely ignore the single in 2020. Streaming playlists and social media carried it to the Grammys instead.

Which label did critic Jody Rosen coin in 2013 for hits about pickup trucks, parties and blue jeans, such as Cruise?

Bro-country was a term Rosen came to dislike seeing used as an insult. He felt some of the scorn for the songs came from class and regional snobbery.

Which duo's 2014 debut single Girl in a Country Song mocked the way male stars' hits portrayed women?

Maddie & Tae packed the lyrics with references to recent hits by male stars and took the single to number one. It stayed their only chart-topper for almost six years.

Which salad ingredient did a radio consultant compare female country singers to in 2015, sparking an industry row?

Tomatoes were only the garnish in his analogy, with male artists as the lettuce, and he advised stations never to play two women back-to-back. The furor became known as Tomatogate.

Which river burst its banks in May 2010, leaving the stage of the Grand Ole Opry House under several feet of water?

Cumberland River water covered the main floor seating and the entire stage, including its famous inlaid circle of wood. Opry shows moved to other venues during the repairs.

Which South African-born singer, known for performing in a mask, released the duets album Stampede in 2024?

Orville Peck opened the project with a Willie Nelson duet, a cover of a Ned Sublette song about cowboys in love. He has given several different accounts of why he adopted the mask.

Which singer's Rich Men North of Richmond entered the Hot 100 at number one in 2023, his first appearance on any chart?

Oliver Anthony heard his song raised in the first question of a Republican presidential debate days later. He objected to being put in a political bucket by either side.

At which 90-seat Nashville venue did record executive Scott Borchetta see a 14-year-old Taylor Swift perform in 2004?

Bluebird Cafe had launched a star that way before: Garth Brooks won his record deal after a 1988 set there, filling in for a writer who never showed up.

Which Little Big Town ballad, written by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose, won the Best Country Song Grammy?

Girl Crush was reportedly pulled by some stations after listeners misread its jealous narrator. Billboard looked into it and concluded the outcry was mostly invented.

Which Alabama singer scored her first country radio number one with You Look Like You Love Me, a duet with Riley Green?

Ella Langley speaks rather than sings the verses of the song, over pedal steel guitar. It won Musical Event of the Year at the CMA Awards.