Kenny Chesney

Contemporary country star Kenny Chesney didn't have the immediate breakout success that many of his peers enjoyed upon signing with major labels, but gradually built up a significant following via hard... MORE


 

Jason Aldean

Country singer and guitarist Jason Aldean was born in Macon, GA, in 1977. His parents separated when he was three years old, and he spent his childhood with his mother in Macon through the school year while... MORE


 

Lady Antebellum

Formed in 2006 by Charles Kelley (brother of singer/songwriter Josh Kelley), Hillary Scott (daughter of Grammy-winning country artist Linda Davis), and Dave Haywood, Lady Antebellum make contemporary country... MORE


 

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift became one of country's brightest (and youngest) faces in 2006, when the 16-year-old released her first album. Although new to the American public, Swift had been performing since her preteen... MORE


 

Alan Jackson

After Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson was the most popular male country singer of the '90s. An heir to the new traditionalist movement of the '80s, Jackson's approach was rooted in classic honky tonk yet remained... MORE


 

Eric Church

Country singer/songwriter/guitarist Eric Church grew up in Granite Falls, North Carolina, and began singing as a child. At 13, he started writing songs, later teaching himself to play guitar. While attending college ... MORE


 

Thompson Square

A husband-and-wife country duo comprised of Keifer Thompson and Shawna Thompson, Thompson Square combine classic rock, country, and singer/songwriter strands into a sharp, pleasant country-pop mix... MORE


 

Rodney Atkins

Though country singer Rodney Atkins didn't get his first guitar until one Christmas in high school, he took to the instrument instantly and was soon playing anywhere he could around his Cumberland Gap, Tennessee... MORE


 

 

Billy Currington

Country singer/songwriter Billy Currington was raised in Rincon, GA. Following high school, he made a couple attempts at relocating to Nashville in the hopes of getting a career in music off the ground, finally... MORE


 

Blake Shelton

Oklahoma native Blake Shelton moved to Nashville in 1994, two weeks after his high-school graduation, to launch a songwriting career that would eventually make him one of the leading males in contemporary country... MORE


 

Brad Paisley

Contemporary country singer/songwriter Brad Paisley was born October 28, 1972, in Glen Dale, West Virginia; given his first guitar at age eight, he delivered his first public performance at church two years later... MORE


 

Brantley Gilbert

Although it’s tempting to call Brantley Gilbert a country artist -- he certainly embraces the outlaw country side of things -- in many ways his music is closer to the heartland sentiments of artists like John Mellencamp... MORE


 

Carrie Underwood

The first country singer to win American Idol, Carrie Underwood grew up in the small town of Checotah, OK, and began singing with her church at the tender age of three. Throughout her childhood, she also performed... MORE


 

Chris Cagle

When he was four years old, Chris Cagle moved from Louisiana to the outskirts of Houston, where he grew up. He began taking guitar lessons at six, but gave them up after a year. He took piano lessons during... MORE


 

Chris Young

The grandson of onetime Louisiana Hayride performer Richard Yates, country singer/songwriter Chris Young hails from Murfreesboro, TN, and first drew the public's attention when he appeared on the Nashville... MORE


 

Craig Morgan

Singer/songwriter Craig Morgan was an army brat before he opted for a career in music. Born and raised in Nashville, Morgan was already a country music fan with dreams of playing guitar and making it big... MORE


 

Darius Rucker

As the frontman of Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker was one of the most popular frontmen in mainstream pop/rock during the mid-'90s. The band's debut album, Cracked Rear View, was virtually inescapable... MORE


 

David Nail

Born and raised in Kennett, Missouri, country singer and songwriter David Nail was drawn at first to sports, particularly baseball, but found himself dreaming of a music career too, and as time went by, he put... MORE


 

Dierks Bentley

Growing up in a non-musical family in Phoenix, Arizona, country singer Dierks Bentley got his country music education on his own, listening to recordings. A love of the music inspired him to move to Nashville... MORE


 

Easton Corbin

Born and raised in rural Gilchrist County, FL, Easton Corbin remembered wanting to be a country singer as early as three or four years old. He spent a good deal of time at his grandparents’ cattle farm following... MORE


 

Edens Edge

A country-pop-folk trio with roots in Arkansas, Edens Edge are comprised of Hannah Blaylock (lead vocals), Dean Berner (harmony vocals, guitar, Dobro), and Cherrill Green (harmony vocals, mandolin... MORE


 

Emerson Drive

Emerson Drive began in the western Alberta town of Grand Prairie, where singer Brad Mates, bassist Jeff Loberg, fiddler Pat Allingham, and keyboardist Chris Hartman began honing their sound as high-school talent... MORE


 

Faith Hill

One of the biggest female country stars of the '90s and 2000s, Faith Hill also took advantage of the inroads Shania Twain made into pop territory, becoming an enormous crossover success by the end of the... MORE


 

George Strait

Out of all the new country singers to emerge in the early '80s, George Strait stayed the closest to traditional country. Drawing from both the honky tonk and Western swing traditions, Strait didn't refashion... MORE


 

Gretchen Wilson

In late May 2004, Gretchen Wilson's debut single, "Redneck Woman," became the first by a solo female singer to top the Billboard country singles chart in over two years; it also reached number one faster than... MORE


 

Jake Owen

When plans for a professional golfing career were derailed by injury, country songwriter Jake Owen picked up a guitar and never looked back. A native of Vero Beach, Florida, Jake and his fraternal twin, Jarrod... MORE


 

James Otto

A country singer and songwriter with a Southern rock heart, James Otto was born into a military family at the Fort Louis Army Base in Washington and grew up all over the U.S., including extended stays in North Dakota... MORE


 

Jerrod Niemann

Country singer and songwriter Jerrod Niemann has penned songs for Garth Brooks, Neal McCoy, Jamey Johnson, and Zona Jones, among others, and has built a strong fan base as a performer of his own material... MORE


 

 

Jimmy Wayne

By all Nash Vegas accounts, North Carolina singer/songwriter Jimmy Wayne comes from the wrong side of the tracks. Born in 1972, he was abandoned by his father at a young age and raised by a troubled mother... MORE


 

Jo Dee Messina

Part of country music's late-'90s crop of female crossover stars, Jo Dee Messina's appeal nonetheless remained more with country fans than pop audiences. Messina was born August 25, 1970, in Framingham, MA... MORE


 

 

Joe Nichols

Joe Nichols took the roundabout way to country success, scoring his first major hit six years after landing his initial record deal. A native of Rogers, Arkansas, Nichols grew up watching his father play bass in a local... MORE


 

Josh Turner

A native of Hannah, South Carolina, country crooner Josh Turner burst onto the scene in 2003 with the powerful "Long Black Train," a song he'd written after listening to a Hank Williams box set. Sounding... MORE


 

Keith Urban

Although born in New Zealand and raised in nearby Australia, Keith Urban made his biggest splash in Nashville, where he helped rewrite the rules of contemporary country music. By embracing drum loops and... MORE


 

LeAnn Rimes

In 1996, LeAnn Rimes burst out of nowhere with her debut single "Blue," which immediately captured the attention of country fans across America. It wasn't just the fact that her rich, powerful vocals were remarkably... MORE


 

Luke Bryan

Singer and songwriter Luke Bryan comes by his country influences naturally: he grew up in Leesburg, Georgia, a small town 100 miles from the Alabama border where his father grew peanuts and sold fertilizer for a living... MORE


 

Mark Wills

Although he didn't quite achieve the fame or sales of new country contemporaries as Tim McGraw or Clay Walker, Mark Wills earned a respectable following and strong reviews following the release of his eponymous... MORE


 

Martina McBride

Contemporary country singer Martina McBride rose to stardom in the late '90s, starting out with a more traditionalist approach and later moving into more pop-friendly territory. She was born Martina Mariea... MORE


 

Miranda Lambert

Before becoming one of country music's most popular females, songwriter Miranda Lambert grew up in Lindale, Texas, a small town 80 miles east of Dallas. The daughter of a country guitarist (Rick Lambert) and a detective... MORE


 

Montgomery Gentry

Country duo Montgomery Gentry evokes the sound and spirit of Southern rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, and Charlie Daniels, painting themselves as rowdy redneck rebels who still... MORE


 

Neal McCoy

Neal McCoy's brand of neo-traditionalist honky tonk brought him a string of hits in the mid-'90s. McCoy was born Hubert Neal McGaughey, Jr. in Jacksonville, TX, to a father of Irish descent and a Filipino mother... MORE


 

Rascal Flatts

A country trio known primarily for its pleasing harmony and Grammy-winning songcraft, Rascal Flatts are comprised of Gary LeVox, Jay Demarcus, and Joe Don Rooney. Cousins Demarcus and LeVox grew... MORE


 

Sara Evans

A female country traditionalist during a time when they were quite rare around Nashville, Sara Evans gained her RCA contract in 1996 after her rendition of Buck Owens' perennial chestnut "I've Got a Tiger by... MORE


 

Scotty McCreery

The winner of American Idol’s tenth season, country crooner Scotty McCreery began singing as a child in Garner, North Carolina. School performances eventually gave way to local competitions, and McCreery... MORE


 

Steve Holy

Born and raised in Dallas, TX, country vocalist Steve Holy was the youngest of eight children and entertained his grade school classmates with his imitations of Conway Twitty. At 19, he auditioned for the local... MORE


 

Sugarland

Sugarland, the platinum-selling contemporary country act, began as a trio of songwriters from the Atlanta area, each of whom had enjoyed some level of renown as a solo country artist. Lead singer and songwriter... MORE


 

Sunny Sweeney

A brassy country singer whose retro style garnered comparisons to singers like Natalie Maines and Kasey Chambers, Sunny Sweeney grew up in Longview, Texas. Sweeney was a gutsy, musically inclined... MORE


 

Tim McGraw

When Tim McGraw debuted in the early '90s, few would have predicted that he would eventually take over Garth Brooks' position as the most popular male singer in country music. Yet that's exactly what he did... MORE


 

Toby Keith

Toby Keith spent the '90s as a solid, workmanlike country star who met with considerable chart success, yet never quite broke free of the neo-traditionalist pack to become a household name like Garth Brooks... MORE


 

Trace Adkins

Trace Adkins helped keep country's traditionalist flame burning during the crossover-happy late '90s, mixing classic honky tonk with elements of gospel, blues, and rock & roll. Adkins was born in the small... MORE


 

Zac Brown

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Zac Brown grew up in Dahlonega, GA, and performed as a solo artist for a number of years before founding the Zac Brown Band in Atlanta in 2004, the group's initial members also including...  MORE