Are you a fan of country music and trying to find out the best country singers, US has to offer or simply someone who heard a country song and can’t get enough of it? Either way you are in the right spot. Here are the top 11 country artist that will help you discover the beautiful genre of music that we call country music.
Johnny cash
Baritone voice and all dressed in black, he remains the greatest singer of country, the one who will not stop scouring the American roads for nearly fifty years. He is the first to have sung and recorded in prison, because the bad boys were also part of his audience.
Hank Williams
Death in the back of his Cadillac just before the arrival of rock, he records little but will influence Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan to name a few. He is the first sacrificed hero of the genre and the first star, thanks to his look (cowboy hat and Nudie costume) and his improbable yodels.
Dolly Parton
Multi-instrumentalist, Dolly Parton has long been the queen of country music. Immediately recognizable icon, she started at the age of 13 and has sold 100 million albums. Above all, she is the first woman to have carved out an important part in a very masculine circuit.
Taylor Swift
A young talent discovered at the age of 14, Taylor Swift recounts her life as a young woman in songs that combine country music and pop inclinations. Its enormous success proves that the genre is still doing very well in the United States: 50 million albums sold in the last decade.
Willie Nelson
Her headband in her hair and her eternal rebellious look betray her deep quest for freedom. His lyrics are mostly dark.
James Burton
Ex-guitarist of Elvis Presley after having accompanied Bob Luman, Ricky Nelson and Dale Hawkins, he is one of the greatest living geniuses of the six strings. And one of the creators of modern country.
Emmylou Harris
Revealed by her lover Gram Parsons, Emmylou is a remarkable performer and musician, in the lineage of Joan Baez for her crystalline voice. It will always evolve between folk and country music.
Gene Autry
Nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, he is one of the first to merge the myth of the Great American West with songs that one takes up by the fireside with his dry guitar. In the eyes of the general public, he is the creator of country music.
Merle Haggard
Convicted of theft at the age of 20, Merle Haggard gets out of delinquency thanks to music. Self-taught, his popularity will unfortunately never exceed the circle of amateurs, despite 38 number 1 in the country charts.
Dixie Chicks
The highest-selling female country group worldwide, the Dixie Chicks borrow as much from bluegrass as they do from pop. In 2003, the trio sparked controversy by publicly opposing the Iraq war. Part of their audience will not forgive them.
Blake Shelton
Who here isn’t familiar with Blake Shelton, if you haven’t seen him judging contestants on the tv show The Voice or haven’t heard any of his hit singles or albums then you my friend have been living in the woods. Together with his producers and managers Narvel Blackstock and Elisa Gayle Ritter, he has produced many hit records and even Christmas singles. On top of that he is engaged to fellow The Voice judge and an industry legend in her own right, Gwen Stefani and if all that wasn’t enough, he was named Sexiest Man Alive in 2017 by People’s Magazine.