2003 has flown under the radar as an extremely underrated year in country music. From breakout albums from Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Josh Turner to underrated records from legends such as George Strait and Brooks & Dunn, the year had plenty of notable releases.
As for singles, 2003 saw Dierks Bentley, Joe Nichols and Gary Allan all score their first #1 hits of their career. 2000s staples such as Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw also scored #1s.
The late Toby Keith, however, was the clear winner of 2003, scoring two multi-week #1 singles with “Beer For My Horses” (with Willie Nelson) and “I Love This Bar,” which stayed at #1 for six and five weeks respectively.
Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?” and Mark Wills’ “19 Somethin'” also experienced prolonged chart success, all having over 5 week #1 runs each.
Here are the 19 songs that went #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 2003.