2011 is widely recognized as a great year for mainstream country music. With career-defining albums from artists such as Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, to breakout years from Chris Young and Scotty McCreery, the year had plenty of new, exciting releases throughout. 24 different artists scored the 34 unique #1 hits that year with only 12 of those songs spending more than one week on top of the chart, meaning that there was something fresh to hear on top of the chart nearly every single week throughout the year. Here are the 34 songs that went #1 on Billboard’s Hot…
Author: Brennen Kelly
What a year it’s been. With 2023 coming to an end, there’s no better time to sit and reflect on the outstanding success that the country music genre has experienced. From Morgan Wallen dominating nearly every single major chart to Oliver Anthony becoming an overnight success and snagging a #1 hit, there have been some incredible highs throughout the year. If dominating pop culture wasn’t enough, country also dominated the charts. In a Billboard article published back in September, Xander Zellener documented many of the records that the country genre broke throughout 2023. Here are some of the highlights. First…
We all got into country music somehow. Whether it was George Strait and Alan Jackson in the 90s, Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw in the 2000s, or even Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett in the 2010s, everyone has certain songs and artists that helped them on their way to becoming country music fans. It’s a perfect time to throw pretentiousness to the side and be honest with ourselves. We didn’t all start listening to the Jason Isbells, Turnpike Troubadours and the Zach Bryans of the world immediately; it took a slow familiarization with the genre for many to build their…
Gabby Barrett has been quietly putting together a wildly successful career in country music. With her first two singles, I Hope and The Good Ones, going #1 and multi-platinum, many have wondered why Barrett hasn’t performed many duets with fellow country stars in the industry. In a day where duets seem to be all the buzz in mainstream country, Barrett doesn’t have any traditional duets with any male country artists. In an interview with Hannah Love, Barrett revealed that she doesn’t accept duet offers out of respect for her husband: “There’s been large song opportunities that have come in for…
After making its chart debut on June 24th, Nate Smith’s World On Fire is officially #1 on country radio. This marks the Californian singer/songwriter’s second #1 hit on Billboard’s US Country Airplay chart, joining Whiskey on You which went #1 back in February. One would think that the song would have been the number one priotrity to be released after Smith and co. penned it; however, that’s simply not the case. In an exclusive interview with Country Chord, Smith tells Hannah Lane how the song was actually never intended to be released, “I mean, it’s really the song that wasn’t…
It’s been nearly four months since indie juggernauts, the Turnpike Troubadours, made their triumphant return with A Cat in the Rain back in August. It felt like one of those moments where the entire independent country community banded together and celebrated one of the best bands in the industry finally reuniting to give us new music. This is, of course, a testament to just how brilliant of a band Turnpike truly is and how good their body of work has been since their debut in 2010. This is easily one of the most difficult rankings to compose simply due to…