• April 22 -
George Strait releases his 17th studio album,
Carrying Your Love with Me. The album went on to be nominated for
Best Male Country Vocal Performance at the
1998 Grammy Awards. • June 27-
Pee Wee King celebrates his 60th Grand Ole Opry Anniversary • July 12 — The song, "
It's Your Love," by
Tim McGraw and
Faith Hill becomes the first song in 20 years to spend six weeks atop
Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The last song to do so was 1977's "
Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" by
Waylon Jennings. In that span, more than 750 songs had reached No. 1 on the country chart, a majority of them for just one week. The song sparked a renewed wave of songs that spend at least five weeks at No. 1, thanks in part to newer chart tracking methods and programming changes at country radio stations. • August 7 -
Garth Brooks plays a free concert at
New York's
Central Park, drawing over 1 million fans, with many dubbing it "Garthstock"; the special is broadcast on
HBO, with its audience drawing 14.6 million.
Billy Joel and
Don McLean make special guest appearances. • November 4 -
Shania Twain releases her third studio album,
Come On Over. The album becomes the best-selling country album of all time, best-selling studio album by a female act, best-selling album by a Canadian and ninth best-selling album in the United States and worldwide. • December 10 –
Faith Hill and
LeAnn Rimes at the Christmas Time with
Eddy Arnold.
No dates •
Jimmie Rodgers is elected to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as an early influence). •
Trisha Yearwood and
LeAnn Rimes both record the song "
How Do I Live" for the movie
Con Air. Producers from the film ask Rimes to record it first but feel her version is not what they have in mind due to the performance itself and her young age. Yearwood then records the song and releases at the same time Rimes releases her song. Although Rimes' version peaked at No. 43 on the
Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, her version is shunned from the country charts yet reaches No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Yearwood's version, meanwhile, peaks at No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and also makes the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, as well as reaching No. 1 in Canada and No. 1 on the US
Radio & Records chart. ==Top hits of the year==