This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2011.
| By location | 
|---|
| By genre | 
| By topic | 
| List of years in country music | 
|---|
| (table) | 
The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs or Canada Country charts in 2011:
The following albums placed within the Top 50 on the Top Country Albums charts in 2011:
| US | Album | Artist | Record label | Release date | Reference | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | American Idol Season 10 | Lauren Alaina | 19/Interscope | May 24 | |
| 3 | American Idol Season 10 | Scotty McCreery | 19/Interscope | May 24 | |
| 6 | American Idol Season 10: Highlights (EP) | Lauren Alaina | 19/Interscope/Mercury Nashville | June 28 | |
| 2 | American Idol Season 10: Highlights (EP) | Scotty McCreery | 19/Interscope/Mercury Nashville | June 28 | |
| 4 | Anniversary Celebration | Randy Travis | Warner Bros. Nashville | June 7 | |
| 1 | Barefoot Blue Jean Night | Jake Owen | RCA Nashville | August 30 | [88] | 
| 1 | Chief | Eric Church | EMI Music Nashville | July 26 | [89] | 
| 1 | Clancy's Tavern | Toby Keith | Show Dog – Universal Records | October 25 | |
| 1 | Clear as Day | Scotty McCreery | 19/Interscope/Mercury Nashville | October 4 | [90] | 
| 7 | Concrete | Sunny Sweeney | Republic Nashville | August 23 | [91] | 
| 7 | Donny & Marie | Donny & Marie | MPCA | May 3 | |
| 10 | Double-Wide Dream | Casey Donahew Band | Almost Country | October 25 | |
| 4 | Eleven | Martina McBride | Republic Nashville | October 11 | |
| 3 | Every Chance I Get | Colt Ford | Average Joe's | May 3 | [92] | 
| 4 | Footloose soundtrack | Various Artists | Atlantic/Warner Bros. Nashville | September 27 | [93] | 
| 1 | Four the Record | Miranda Lambert | RCA Nashville | November 1 | [94] | 
| 6 | Ghost on the Canvas | Glen Campbell | Surfdog | August 30 | [95] | 
| 4 | Guitar Slinger | Vince Gill | MCA Nashville | October 25 | [96] | 
| 3 | Hard Bargain | Emmylou Harris | Nonesuch | April 26 | |
| 1 | Hell on Heels | Pistol Annies | Columbia Nashville | August 23 | [97] | 
| 1 | Here for a Good Time | George Strait | MCA Nashville | September 6 | [98] | 
| 10 | Hillbilly Joker | Hank Williams III | Curb | May 17 | |
| 1 | Hunter Hayes | Hunter Hayes | Atlantic Nashville | October 11 | |
| 4 | I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive | Steve Earle | New West | April 26 | |
| 10 | The JaneDear Girls | The JaneDear Girls | Warner Bros. Nashville | February 1 | [99] | 
| 10 | Jeff Bridges | Jeff Bridges | Blue Note | August 16 | [100] | 
| 7 | Lady and Gentlemen | LeAnn Rimes | Asylum-Curb | September 27 | |
| 3 | Life at Best | Eli Young Band | Republic Nashville | August 16 | |
| 7 | The Love of God | Kenny Rogers | Cracker Barrel | March 7 | |
| 2 | Neon | Chris Young | RCA Nashville | July 12 | [101] | 
| 3 | Now That's What I Call Country Volume 4 | Various Artists | Universal Music | June 14 | |
| 1 | Own the Night | Lady Antebellum | Capitol Nashville | September 13 | |
| 1 | Outlaws Like Me | Justin Moore | Valory Music Group | June 21 | |
| 1 | Paper Airplane | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Rounder | April 12 | |
| 2 | Proud to Be Here | Trace Adkins | Show Dog-Universal | August 2 | [102] | 
| 9 | Rebels on the Run | Montgomery Gentry | Average Joe's | October 18 | |
| 1 | Red River Blue | Blake Shelton | Warner Bros. Nashville | July 12 | [103] | 
| 1 | Ronnie Dunn | Ronnie Dunn | Arista Nashville | June 7 | |
| 8 | The Sound of a Million Dreams | David Nail | MCA Nashville | November 15 | [104] | 
| 2 | Speak Now World Tour – Live | Taylor Swift | Big Machine | November 21 | |
| 6 | Spring Break 3...It's a Shore Thing (EP) | Luke Bryan | Capitol Nashville | March 1 | |
| 3 | Steel Magnolia | Steel Magnolia | Big Machine | January 11 | [105] | 
| 1 | Stronger | Sara Evans | RCA Nashville | March 8 | |
| 1 | Tailgates & Tanlines | Luke Bryan | Capitol Nashville | August 9 | [106] | 
| 3 | Take a Back Road | Rodney Atkins | Curb | October 4 | [107] | 
| 1 | This Is Country Music | Brad Paisley | Arista Nashville | May 23 | [108] | 
| 3 | Thompson Square | Thompson Square | Stoney Creek | February 8 | [109] | 
| 1 | Town Line | Aaron Lewis | Stroudavarious | March 1 | |
| 2 | Wildflower | Lauren Alaina | 19/Interscope/Mercury Nashville | October 11 | 
| US | Album | Artist | Record label | Release date | Reference | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 10 Great Skits | Roy D. Mercer | Capitol Nashville | April 5 | |
| 43 | 1978 December | Sonia Leigh | Southern Ground | September 27 | [110] | 
| 19 | The Academy of Country Music Awards: 2011 ACM Spotlight 'ZinePak  | Various Artists | ZinePak LLC/Walmart | March 22 | |
| 32 | The Best of Rascal Flatts Live | Rascal Flatts | Hollywood | November 8 | |
| 11 | Better Day | Dolly Parton | Dolly | June 28 | [111] | 
| 42 | Bootleg Volume III | Johnny Cash | Sony Legacy | October 11 | |
| 17 | The Broken Record | Corey Smith | Average Joe's | June 21 | [112] | 
| 13 | Caldwell County (EP) | Eric Church | Capitol Nashville | January 18 | |
| 19 | Chippin' Away | Kevin Fowler | Average Joe's | August 9 | [113] | 
| 44 | Christmas Today's Country Volume One | Various Artists | Curb | September 27 | |
| 38 | Country Christmas | Various Artists | Sony Music Special Products | September 20 | |
| 23 | Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin | The Grascals | Cracker Barrel | January 10 | |
| 14 | Craig Campbell | Craig Campbell | Bigger Picture | April 5 | |
| 24 | Crazy Girl (EP) | Eli Young Band | Republic Nashville | May 3 | [114] | 
| 42 | The Dreaming Fields | Matraca Berg | Dualtone | May 17 | [115] | 
| 26 | Firewater | Whiskey Myers | Wiggy Thump | April 26 | |
| 40 | For the Kids (EP) | John Rich | Warner Bros. Nashville | May 17 | |
| 33 | Frankie Ballard | Frankie Ballard | Warner Bros. Nashville | May 24 | |
| 33 | From Memphis to Hollywood | Johnny Cash | Columbia/Legacy | February 22 | |
| 16 | Georgia Clay | Josh Kelley | MCA Nashville | March 22 | [116] | 
| 14 | Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town | Hank Williams III | Megaforce/Hank3 | September 6 | |
| 20 | Good Luck & True Love | Reckless Kelly | No Big Deal/Red Eye | September 13 | [117] | 
| 12 | Greatest Hits | Joe Nichols | Show Dog-Universal | January 25 | [118] | 
| 39 | Hits | George Jones | Bandit | February 15 | |
| 24 | I'm American | Billy Ray Cyrus | Buena Vista | June 28 | [119] | 
| 41 | I Hate You, I Love You | Emily West | Emily West | December 20 | |
| 34 | I Will Stand by You: The Essential Collection | The Judds | Curb | April 5 | |
| 22 | Icon | Billy Currington | Mercury Nashville | March 22 | |
| 14 | Icon | George Strait | MCA Nashville | September 13 | |
| 20 | Icon | Josh Turner | MCA Nashville | March 22 | |
| 44 | Icon | Conway Twitty | MCA Nashville | May 24 | |
| 35 | Icon 2 | George Strait | MCA Nashville | November 8 | |
| 19 | It's All Good | Joe Nichols | Show Dog-Universal | November 8 | [120] | 
| 16 | It's Only Natural | The Oak Ridge Boys | Cracker Barrell | September 19 | |
| 12 | KMAG YOYO | Hayes Carll | Lost Highway | February 15 | |
| 32 | Little Bird | Kasey Chambers | Sugar Hill | July 12 | [121] | 
| 11 | The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams | Various Artists | CMF/Columbia Nashville | October 4 | |
| 30 | Love Don't Run | Steve Holy | Curb | September 13 | |
| 37 | The Majestic Silver Strings | Buddy Miller | New West | March 1 | |
| 50 | The Monument Singles – A-Sides (1960–1964) | Roy Orbison | Legacy | April 26 | |
| 20 | Mud Digger: Volume 2 | Various Artists | Average Joe's | July 19 | |
| 22 | The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Volume One  | Various Artists | Scatter/Valory Music Co. | February 8 | |
| 22 | Nick 13 | Nick 13 | Sugar Hill | June 7 | [122] | 
| 33 | Numbers | Jason Michael Carroll | QuarterBack/GrassRoots/Cracker Barrel | July 25 | [123] | 
| 12 | Opus Collection | Roy Orbison | Legacy | May 10 | |
| 36 | Raise My Glass | Micky & the Motorcars | Smith Music Group | August 9 | [124] | 
| 26 | Rancho Alto | Jason Boland & the Stragglers | Proud Souls | October 4 | |
| 43 | Randy Montana | Randy Montana | Mercury Nashville | July 26 | [125] | 
| 11 | Randy Travis | Randy Travis | Cracker Barrel | May 2 | [126] | 
| 21 | Ready for Confetti | Robert Earl Keen | Lost Highway | August 30 | |
| 39 | Redemption | Josh Gracin | Average Joe's | November 8 | |
| 47 | A Redneck Christmas | Slidawg and the Redneck Ramblers | Sonoma | September 27 | |
| 40 | Remember Me, Vol. 1 | Willie Nelson | R&J | November 21 | |
| 35 | Rich Rocks (EP) | John Rich | Warner Bros. Nashville | May 17 | |
| 46 | Satisfied at Last | Joe Ely | Redeye | June 7 | [127] | 
| 34 | Sleep with One Eye Open | Chris Thile & Michael Daves | Nonesuch | May 10 | |
| 14 | Some Lessons Learned | Kristin Chenoweth | Sony Masterworks | September 13 | |
| 29 | Songs and Stories | Guy Clark | Dualtone | August 16 | [128] | 
| 41 | Sunny Sweeney (EP) | Sunny Sweeney | Republic Nashville | January 18 | |
| 43 | Take the High Road | The Blind Boys of Alabama | Saguaro Road | May 3 | |
| 13 | This Is Indian Land | Cody Canada | Underground Sound | June 21 | [129] | 
| 38 | Top 50 Hottest Country Hits NOW | Modern Country Heroes | Big Eye Music | October 1 | |
| 15 | Velvet | Stoney LaRue | B Side | August 30 | [130] | 
| 39 | A Very Country Christmas (EP) | Various Artists | Arista Nashville | October 11 | |
| 11 | Where Country Grows | Ashton Shepherd | MCA Nashville | July 12 | [131] | 
| 48 | Wild Together | Carter's Chord | Show Dog-Universal | May 24 | |
| 30 | Working in Tennessee | Merle Haggard | Vanguard Records | October 4 | 
(presented April 1, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada)
ACM Honors
(presented in Los Angeles on November 20, 2011)
(presented December 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada)
(presented November 20 in Los Angeles)
(presented in Sydney on November 27, 2011)
(presented September 12 in Hamilton)
(presented November 9 in Nashville)
(presented June 8 in Nashville)
CMT Artists of the Year
(presented December 13 in Nashville) [132] 
(presented February 12, 2012)
(presented April 1, 2012 in Ottawa)
Star who were honored in 2011