First generation (1920s) Country music, still known as
hillbilly music at the time, gained an increased audience with the
invention of the radio in the 1920s.
Okeh Records, a New York City record label began issuing hillbilly records in 1923, eventually followed by
Columbia Records in 1924, and
RCA Victor Records in 1927. Outside of New York,
Atlanta's country music scene was also important launching many early recording artist's career. The
steel guitar entered country music as early as 1922, when Jimmie Tarlton met famed Hawaiian guitarist
Frank Ferera on the West Coast. Many hillbilly musicians recorded
blues songs throughout the 1920s. The first commercial recordings of what was considered instrumental music in the traditional country style were "
Arkansas Traveler" and "
Turkey in the Straw" by fiddlers Henry Gilliland &
A.C. (Eck) Robertson on June 30, 1922, for Victor Records and released in April 1923. The first commercial recording of what is widely considered to be the first country song featuring vocals and lyrics was
Fiddlin' John Carson with "
Little Log Cabin in the Lane" for
Okeh Records on June 14, 1923.
Vernon Dalhart was considered the first country singer to have a nationwide hit in May 1924 with "
Wreck of the Old 97." The flip side of the record was "Lonesome Road Blues", was also popularized. In April 1924, "Aunt"
Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis became the first female musicians to record and release country songs. Many of the early country musicians, such as the
yodeler
Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs into the 1930s.
James Gideon "Gid" Tanner, an American old-time
fiddler, was one of country music's earliest stars. With his string band, the
Skillet Lickers, in the 1920s and 1930s, many early country songs were written and performed. , wife
Sara Carter and
Maybelle Carter.
Jimmie Rodgers and the
Carter Family are widely considered to be important early country musicians. From
Scott County, Virginia, the Carters had learned
sight reading of hymnals and sheet music using
solfege. Their songs were first captured at a
historic recording session in
Bristol, Tennessee, on August 1, 1927, where
Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist. A scene in the movie
O Brother, Where Art Thou? depicts a similar occurrence in the same timeframe. Rodgers fused hillbilly country, gospel, jazz, blues, pop, cowboy, and folk, and many of his best songs were his compositions, including "
Blue Yodel", which sold over a million records and established Rodgers as the premier singer of early country music. Beginning in 1927, and for the next 17 years, the Carters recorded some 300 old-time ballads, traditional tunes, country songs and gospel hymns, all representative of America's southeastern folklore and heritage.
Second generation (1930s–1940s) Record sales declined during the
Great Depression, but radio became a popular source of entertainment, and "
barn dance" shows featuring country music were popularized, beginning in the Southern United States and spreading north to Chicago and west to California. The most important was the
Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by
WSM in
Nashville and continuing to the present day. Some of the early stars on the
Opry were
Uncle Dave Macon,
Roy Acuff and African American harmonica player
DeFord Bailey. in 1940 Drums were looked down on by early country musicians as being too loud and not pure for the country sound. By 1935,
Bob Wills added drums to his western swing band,
Texas Playboys, despite opposition by the country music venue, the
Grand Ole Opry. In contrast,
Louisiana Hayride, a less conservative country music venue, kept a house drummer backstage as late as 1956. In the 1960s, however, it was rare for a country band not to have a drummer. and other country musicians at the
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, 2018 Bob Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an
electric guitar to his band, in 1938. A decade later (1948)
Arthur Smith recorded
Guitar Boogie, which crossed over to the US pop charts, introducing many people to the potential of the electric guitar. For several decades Nashville session players preferred the warm tones of the
Gibson and
Gretsch archtop electrics, but a "hot"
Fender style, using guitars which became available beginning in the early 1950s, eventually prevailed as the signature guitar sound of country. In the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood, with popular
singing cowboys such as
Gene Autry, known as king of the "singing cowboys," the
Sons of the Pioneers, and
Roy Rogers. Country music and western music were frequently played together on the same radio stations, hence the term
country and western music, despite country and western being two distinct genres. Cowgirls contributed to the sound in various family groups, with
Patsy Montana opening the door for female artists with "I Want To Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart".
Bob Wills developed the subgenre
western swing, bringing in more instruments and players. At its height, western swing rivaled the popularity of
big band swing music. Country musicians began recording
boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at
Carnegie Hall, when
Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". The trickle of what was initially called hillbilly boogie, or okie boogie, became a flood beginning in late 1945, with notable releases like
the Delmore Brothers'
Freight Train Boogie, part of the evolution toward
rockabilly. The hillbilly boogie period lasted into the 1950s and remains one of many subgenres of country into the 21st century. By the end of
World War II, "mountaineer" string band music known as
bluegrass had emerged when
Bill Monroe joined with
Lester Flatt and
Earl Scruggs, introduced by Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry.
Gospel music remained a popular component, with
Red Foley having one of the first million-selling gospel hits ("
Peace in the Valley") and also singing boogie, blues and rockabilly. In the post-war period, country music was called "folk" in the trades, and "hillbilly" within the industry. In 1944,
Billboard replaced the term "hillbilly" with "folk songs and blues," and switched to "country and western" in 1949. |237x237px Another type of stripped-down and raw music with a variety of moods and a basic ensemble of guitar, bass,
dobro or steel guitar (and later) drums became popular, especially among rural residents in the three states of
Texhomex, those being
Texas,
Oklahoma, and
New Mexico. It became known as
honky tonk and had its roots in western swing and the
ranchera music of Mexico and the border states, particularly New Mexico and Texas, together with the blues of the American South.
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys personified this music which has been described as:
"a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, a little bit of black and a little bit of white... just loud enough to keep you from thinking too much and to go right on ordering the whiskey." These
honky tonk songs were associated with bar rooms. The music of these artists who began in this type would later be referred to as
traditional country.
Webb Pierce, a honky-tonk singer, was the top-charting country artist of the 1950s, with 13 of his singles spending 113 weeks at number one. In 1951, Williams's "
Cold, Cold Heart" earned crossover success with
Tony Bennett's
traditional pop cover version, which introduced Williams's songwriting to mainstream audiences.
Third generation (1950s–1960s) The third generation of country music evolved the genre into sub-disciplines like
bluegrass,
rockabilly, and
country rock, while
Gospel music remained popular. After
World War II, "mountaineer string band" music emerged as bluegrass when
Bill Monroe, with
Lester Flatt and
Earl Scruggs, was introduced by
Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry. By the early 1950s, a blend of western swing, country boogie, and honky tonk was played by most bands, following
Gene Autry,
Lydia Mendoza,
Roy Rogers, and
Patsy Montana; the first all-country radio station was established in
Lubbock, Texas in 1953, and the
Country Music Association was founded in 1958.
Native American, Hispano, and
American frontier music from the
Southwestern United States and
Northern Mexico grew popular in poor communities across
New Mexico,
Oklahoma, and
Texas, with basic ensembles featuring
classical guitar,
bass guitar,
dobro or steel guitar, and larger groups adding
electric guitars,
trumpets,
keyboards (especially the honky-tonk piano, a type of
tack piano),
banjos, and
drums. The 1960s marked a transition, with traditional country dominant but innovative acts like
Loretta Lynn's feminist lens and
Johnny Cash's prison concerts pushing boundaries. Western music continued influencing country, though folk revival and
folk rock had little impact due to political contrasts with country's conservative audience.
Rock and roll's rise with blended with country to form rockabilly, boosted by producers like
Sam Phillips at
Sun Records in Memphis, launching
Elvis Presley,
Jerry Lee Lewis,
Carl Perkins,
Roy Orbison, and
Johnny Cash;
Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, for
Buddy Holly; and
Bob Keane at Del-Fi Records for
Ritchie Valens. Petty's studio also hosted early sessions for
Hank Williams Jr., who fused rock with country, and
Al Hurricane, blending country, rock, and
New Mexico music on
Gene Autry's
Challenge Records label. Country gained TV exposure via
Ozark Jubilee on ABC from 1955 to 1960 in
Springfield, Missouri. 1956 was rockabilly's peak, with hits like Presley's "
Heartbreak Hotel", Cash's "
I Walk the Line", and Perkins' "
Blue Suede Shoes"; former yodeler
Bill Haley repurposed his band for rockabilly successes like "
Rock Around the Clock". The
Bakersfield sound grew from hardcore honky tonk and western swing among
Dust Bowl migrants in
Bakersfield, California, relying on electric instruments like the
Telecaster; leading artists included
Buck Owens,
Merle Haggard,
Tommy Collins,
Dwight Yoakam,
Gary Allan, and
Wynn Stewart.
Ken Nelson produced trucking songs like Haggard's
White Line Fever and asked
Red Simpson to record an album in the subgenre. The "slip note" piano of
Floyd Cramer was central. It collapsed in 1964 amid rock's rise and the plane crash deaths of Reeves and Cline, evolving into
countrypolitan for mainstream markets through the early 1970s. From the 1950s to mid-1960s, western singer-songwriters
Marty Robbins and
Michael Martin Murphey gained prominence. By the late 1960s, a traditionalist backlash to the
British Invasion—exemplified by
the Byrds' negative Opry reception, mixed with rock's "old values" and declining Nashville interest to create country rock. The scene was dominated by western influences, leading to "country and western" labeling; fashion like
cowboy hats persisted, alongside subgenres like
Red Dirt in Oklahoma,
New Mexico music in New Mexico, and
Texas country/
Tejano music in Texas. File:Cowboy-Boots-And-Hat.png|
Cowboy hat and
cowboy boots, associated with country music artists File:Atypicalwesternshirt.svg|
Western wear shirt design, with
snap fasteners File:Eakins, Cowboy Singing 1890.jpg|Painting of a
cowboy singing by
Thomas Eakins (1890) File:Freddy Fender singing in 1977.jpg|
Freddy Fender performing
Tejano music in
Nashville (1977) File:Al Hurricane and Al Hurricane, Jr. performing at the San Felipe De Neri 2014 fiestas.jpg|
Al Hurricane and
Jr. performing
New Mexico music at a fiesta in
Old Town Albuquerque (2014)
Fourth generation (1970s–1980s) in a 1975 publicity photo for Capitol Records
Outlaw country emerged in the late 1950s and 1960s from traditional Western music styles like
Red Dirt,
New Mexico,
Texas country,
Tejano, and
honky-tonk, with lyrics capturing anger and alienation from personal or economic struggles. Originating in the bars and honky-tonks of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, it was shaped by artists like
Johnny Cash with his 1963 hit "
Ring of Fire," and driven by figures like
Willie Nelson,
Waylon Jennings,
Jerry Jeff Walker,
Hank Williams, Jr.,
Merle Haggard, and
Joe Ely. The outlaw movement revolutionized country music in the early 1970s, epitomized in the 1976 album
Wanted! The Outlaws, and its influence persisted into the 1980s through supergroups like
The Highwaymen,
Bandido, and
Texas Tornados, shaping modern
alternative country within country pop. Between 1972 and 1975 singer and guitarist
John Denver released a series of successful songs both with country and
folk-rock musical styles. By the mid-1970s, Texas country and Tejano music gained popularity with performers like
Freddie Fender. ''"After I left Nashville (the early 70s), I wanted to relax and play the music that I wanted to play, and just stay around Texas, maybe Oklahoma. Waylon and I had that outlaw image going, and when it caught on at colleges and we started selling records, we were O.K. The whole outlaw thing, it had nothing to do with the music, it was something that got written in an article, and the young people said, 'Well, that's pretty cool.' And started listening." -
Willie Nelson''
Country pop or soft pop, with roots in the
countrypolitan sound, folk music, and
soft rock, first emerged in the 1970s, starting with
pop music singers like
Glen Campbell,
Bobbie Gentry,
John Denver,
Olivia Newton-John,
Anne Murray,
B. J. Thomas,
the Bellamy Brothers, and
Linda Ronstadt having hits on the country charts. During the mid-1970s,
Dolly Parton, a successful mainstream country artist since the late 1960s, mounted a high-profile campaign to cross over to pop music, culminating in her 1977 hit "
Here You Come Again", which topped the U.S. country singles chart, and also reached No. 3 on the pop singles charts. Parton's male counterpart,
Kenny Rogers, came from the opposite direction, aiming his music at the country charts, after a successful career in pop, rock and folk music with
the First Edition. He achieved success with
Lucille, topping reaching No. 5 on the U.S. pop singles charts, and No. 1 on the British all-genre chart, as well as the country class,
The Gambler. In 1975, author
Paul Hemphill stated in the
Saturday Evening Post, ''"Country music isn't really country anymore; it is a hybrid of nearly every form of popular music in America."''During the early 1980s, country artists continued to see their records perform well on the pop charts, despite some pushback from some more established artists in the industry. Many artists moved to produce country pop, a sound that had more intensive production and received radio airtime, in favor of more traditional or acoustic productions. Described by
AllMusic as the "father of country-rock",
Gram Parsons' work in the early 1970s was acclaimed for its purity and for his appreciation for aspects of traditional country music. Subsequent to the initial blending of the two polar opposite genres, other offspring soon resulted, including
Southern rock,
heartland rock and in more recent years,
alternative country. In 1980, a style of "neocountry disco music" was popularized by the film
Urban Cowboy. It was during this time that a glut of pop-country crossover artists began appearing on the country charts. Sales in record stores rocketed to $250 million in 1981; by 1984, 900 radio stations began programming country or neocountry pop full-time. As with most sudden trends, however, by 1984 sales had dropped below 1979 figures. truck driving music has the
tempo of country rock and the emotion of honky-tonk, and its lyrics focus on a
truck driver's lifestyle. The song was written by actual truckers and contained numerous references to the trucker culture of the time like "ICC" for
Interstate Commerce Commission and "little white pills" as a reference to
amphetamines. in 2014|214x214px During the mid-1980s, a group of new artists began to emerge who rejected the more polished country-pop sound that had been prominent on radio and the charts, in favor of more, traditional, "back-to-basics" production. The so called "Class of '81",
Ricky Skaggs,
George Strait, and
Reba McEntire, began a long string of hits that revisited a traditional sound. Many of the artists during the latter half of the 1980s drew on traditional honky-tonk, bluegrass, folk and western swing.
Fifth generation (1990s–2000s) Country music was aided by the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Docket 80–90, which led to a significant expansion of
FM radio in the 1980s by adding numerous higher-fidelity FM signals to rural and suburban areas. At this point, country music was mainly heard on rural
AM radio stations; the expansion of FM was particularly helpful to country music, which migrated to FM from the AM band as AM became overcome by
talk radio (the country music stations that stayed on AM developed the
classic country format for the AM audience). At the same time,
beautiful music stations already in rural areas began abandoning the format (leading to its effective demise) to adopt country music as well. This wider availability of country music led to producers seeking to polish their product for a wider audience. In 1990,
Billboard, which had published a
country music chart since the 1940s, changed the methodology it used to compile the chart: singles sales were removed from the methodology, and only airplay on
country radio determined a song's place on the chart. In the 1990s, country music became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to
Garth Brooks, who enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the decade. He attracted fans with his fusion of neotraditionalist country and
stadium rock.
George Strait, whose career began in the 1980s, also continued to have widespread success in this decade and beyond.
Toby Keith began his career as a more pop-oriented country singer in the 1990s, evolving into an outlaw persona in the early 2000s with
Pull My Chain and its follow-up,
Unleashed. performing during her
Up! Tour in 2004 Female artists such as
Reba McEntire,
Patty Loveless,
Faith Hill,
Martina McBride,
Deana Carter,
LeAnn Rimes,
Mindy McCready,
Pam Tillis,
Lorrie Morgan,
Shania Twain, and
Mary Chapin Carpenter all released platinum-selling albums in the 1990s. The
Dixie Chicks became one of the most popular country bands in the 1990s and early 2000s. Their 1998 debut album
Wide Open Spaces went on to become certified 12 times platinum while their 1999 album
Fly went on to become 10 times platinum. Canadian artist Shania Twain became the best selling female country artist of 1990s. Her 1997 album,
Come On Over, became a worldwide phenomenon one of the world's best selling albums for three years (1998, 1999 and 2000). Twain has been credited with breaking international boundaries for country music, as well as inspiring many country artists to incorporate different genres into their music in order to attract a wider audience. In the early-mid-1990s, country western music was influenced by the popularity of
line dancing. This influence was so great that
Chet Atkins was quoted as saying, "The music has gotten pretty bad, I think. It's all that damn line dancing." By the end of the decade, however, at least one line dance choreographer complained that good country line dance music was no longer being released. In contrast, artists such as
Don Williams and
George Jones who had more or less had consistent chart success through the 1970s and 1980s suddenly had their fortunes fall rapidly around 1991 when the new chart rules took effect. Country influences combined with
Punk rock and
alternative rock to forge the "
cowpunk" scene in Southern California during the 1980s, which included bands such as
the Long Ryders,
Lone Justice and
the Beat Farmers, as well as the established punk group
X, whose music had begun to include country and rockabilly influences. Simultaneously, a generation of diverse country artists outside of California emerged that rejected the perceived cultural and musical conservatism associated with Nashville's mainstream country musicians in favor of more countercultural outlaw country and the folk singer-songwriter traditions of artists such as
Woody Guthrie,
Gram Parsons and
Bob Dylan.
Steve Earle, in particular, had both country and
college rock audiences. In 1986, he opened for both country singer
Dwight Yoakam and alt-rock band,
the Replacements. Yoakam also cultivated a fanbase spanning multiple genres through his stripped-down
honky-tonk influenced sound and performances at Los Angeles punk rock clubs. These early styles merged around 1990, when
Uncle Tupelo released an influential debut album
No Depression. The album is widely credited as being the first
alt-country album, and inspired the name of
No Depression magazine, which principally covered the new genre.
Darius Rucker, frontman for the 1990s pop-rock band
Hootie & the Blowfish, began a country solo career in the late 2000s, one that to date has produced five albums and several hits on both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100. Singer-songwriter
Unknown Hinson became famous for his appearance in the
Charlotte television show
Wild, Wild, South, after which Hinson started his own band and toured in southern states. Other rock stars who featured a country song on their albums were
Don Henley (who released
Cass County in 2015) and
Poison.
Sixth generation (2010s–present) In the 2010s, the alt-country genre saw an increase in its critical and commercial popularity, owing to the success of artists such as
the Civil Wars,
Chris Stapleton,
Sturgill Simpson,
Jason Isbell,
Lydia Loveless, and
Margo Price. In 2019,
Kacey Musgraves – a country artist who had gained a following with
indie rock fans – won the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year for her album
Golden Hour. One of the most commercially successful country artists of the late 2000s and early 2010s has been singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift. Swift first became widely known in 2006 when her debut single, "
Tim McGraw," later releasing her
self-titled debut studio album, which spent 275 weeks on
Billboard 200, one of the longest runs of any album on that chart. At the
2010 Grammys, Swift won Album of the Year for
Fearless. Most recently, she has focused on a country sound, in her recent folk-inspired releases,
Folklore (2020) and
Evermore (2020). Before Swift, in 2005, country singer
Carrie Underwood rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of
American Idol; now holding seven
Grammy Awards. With her first single, "
Inside Your Heaven", Underwood became the only solo country artist to have a number 1 hit on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 2000–2009 decade and also broke
Billboard chart history as the first country music artist ever to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100. In 2007, Underwood won the
Grammy Award for Best New Artist, becoming the second country artist to win the award. Another key voice of this generation is singer Kacey Musgraves, who released
Golden Hour, winning the
61st Annual Grammy Awards,
Academy of Country Music Awards, and
Country Music Association Awards, although the album has received criticism from some traditional country music fans. In 2010, the group
Lady Antebellum won five Grammys, including the coveted
Song of the Year and
Record of the Year for "
Need You Now". A large number of duos and vocal groups emerged on the charts in the 2010s, many of which feature
close harmony in the lead vocals. In addition to Lady A, groups such as
Little Big Town,
the Band Perry,
Gloriana,
Thompson Square,
Eli Young Band,
Zac Brown Band and British duo
the Shires have emerged to occupy a large share of mainstream success alongside solo singers such as Kacey Musgraves and
Miranda Lambert. In the mid to late 2010s, country and
pop music fused more closely, gaining in popularity with mainstream audiences. The singers who are part of this country movement are also defined as "Nashville's new generation of country". In a broadening of the rhetorical style and coverage of themes in country music, some of these artists have explored feminism, racism, and religion. In 2024,
Beyonce released a country album,
Cowboy Carter, to popular acclaim, featuring original songs such as ''
Texas Hold 'Em'' and a cover of Dolly Parton's
Jolene. The genre continues to evolve and attract new influences. The influence of
rock music in country has become more overt during the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Hip hop also made its mark on country music with the emergence of
country rap. In addition to the emergence of many fusion genres and the continual growth in the country pop sound and country subgenres crossed into rock, alternative and folk, the themes discussed in country music broadened. While many artists still discussed the traditional and conservative values of rural life, working class issues steered towards urban and service work, with acts such as
Dougie Poole. Female acts in country music also grew rapidly, with a broadening of thematic topics, such as women's rights, being discussed by major stars, such as
Kacey Musgraves. The country rap sound was brought into the mainstream by
southern rappers, with a
trap style of production, and country music artists. Nelly and Tim McGraw's "
Over and Over" debuted in 2004. In 2003,
BubbaSparxxx's debut album, which was self-described as southern trap, was released. This style of music features rap lyrics over country instrumentation, as well as hip-hop production elements.
Lil Nas X's song "
Old Town Road"
spent 19 weeks atop the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the longest-running number-one song since the chart debuted in 1958, winning
Billboard Music Awards,
MTV Video Music Awards and a Grammy Award.
Sam Hunt's "
Leave the Night On" peaked concurrently on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, making Hunt the first country artist in 22 years, since
Billy Ray Cyrus, to reach the top of three country charts simultaneously in the
Nielsen SoundScan-era. With the fusion genre of "country trap"—a fusion of country/western themes to a
hip hop beat, but usually with fully sung lyrics—emerging in the late 2010s, line dancing country had a minor revival, examples of the phenomenon include "
The Git Up" by
Blanco Brown. Blanco Brown has gone on to make more traditional country soul songs such as "I Need Love" and a rendition of "
Don't Take the Girl" with
Tim McGraw, and collaborations like "
Just the Way" with
Parmalee. Another country trap artist known as
Breland has seen success with "
My Truck", "
Throw It Back" with
Keith Urban, and "
Praise the Lord" featuring
Thomas Rhett.
Emo rap musician
Sueco released a
cowpunk song in collaboration with country musician
Warren Zeiders titled "Ride It Hard". In the early 2010s, "
bro-country", a genre noted primarily for its themes on drinking and partying, girls, and pickup trucks became particularly popular. Artists associated with this genre are
Luke Bryan,
Jason Aldean,
Blake Shelton,
Jake Owen and
Florida Georgia Line whose song "
Cruise" became the best-selling country song of all time. Research in the mid-2010s suggested that about 45 percent of country's best-selling songs could be considered bro-country, with the top two artists being Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line. Albums by bro-country singers also sold very well—in 2013, Luke Bryan's
Crash My Party was the third best-selling of all albums in the United States, with Florida Georgia Line's ''
Here's to the Good Times'' at sixth, and Blake Shelton's
Based on a True Story at ninth. It is also thought that the popularity of bro-country helped country music to surpass classic rock as the most popular genre in the American country in 2012. opening up a divide between the older generation of country singers and the younger bro country singers that was described as "civil war" by musicians, critics, and journalists." In 2014,
Maddie & Tae's "
Girl in a Country Song", addressing many of the controversial bro-country themes, peaked at number one on the
Billboard Country Airplay chart. In the latter part of the 2010s, an increasing number of mainstream country acts collaborated with pop, electronic, and R&B artists; many of these songs achieved commercial success. Examples include a collaboration between
Kane Brown and
Marshmello and
Maren Morris and
Zedd, the latter of both duos being electronic music artists. Maren Morris' successful collaboration "
The Middle" with
EDM producer Zedd is considered to be one representation of the fusion of electro-pop with country music. In the early 2020s, the uptick in country music's popularity has resulted in more songs in this genre reaching number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, including
Morgan Wallen's "
Last Night" and Jason Aldean's "
Try That in a Small Town". Currently, Morgan Wallen is the traditional country artist with the most
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers, with four. ==Regional styles of country music==