The Billboard Music Award for Top Country Artist recognizes the most successful country artists on the Billboard Charts over the past year. Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift has won the most awards with three each. Luke Bryan is the only artist to be nominated for it every year it was awarded until 2015 and 2016. Dixie Chicks became the first group to win it in the 1999 Billboard Music Awards.
Year | Winner | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Garth Brooks | [1] | |
1993 | Garth Brooks | [2] | |
1995 | John Michael Montgomery | [3] | |
1996 | George Strait | [ citation needed ] | |
1997 | LeAnn Rimes | [ citation needed ] | |
1998 | Garth Brooks | [ citation needed ] | |
1999 | Dixie Chicks |
| [ citation needed ] |
2000 | Dixie Chicks |
| [ citation needed ] |
2001 | Tim McGraw | [ citation needed ] | |
2003 | Shania Twain |
| [ citation needed ] |
2005 | Toby Keith |
| [ citation needed ] |
2011 | Taylor Swift | [4] | |
2012 | Lady Antebellum | [5] | |
2013 | Taylor Swift | [6] | |
2014 | Luke Bryan | [7] | |
2015 | Florida Georgia Line | [8] | |
2016 | Luke Bryan | [9] | |
2017 | Blake Shelton | [10] | |
2018 | Chris Stapleton | [11] | |
2019 | Luke Combs | ||
2020 | Luke Combs | ||
2021 | Morgan Wallen | ||
2022 | Taylor Swift | ||
2023 | Morgan Wallen |
The following individuals received two or more Top Country Artist Awards:
| The following individuals received two or more Top Country Artist nominations:
|
The Billboard Music Awards are honors given out annually by Billboard, a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The Billboard Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of the years 2007 through 2010. The event was previously staged in December, but has been held in May since returning in 2011. On October 19, 2023, it was announced that the award ceremony will be reformatted as a digital-only show and move from broadcast television to its website and Billboard's social media pages, starting with the 2023 edition on November 19.
Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan is an American country singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association. In 2019, Bryan's 2013 album Crash My Party received the first Album of the Decade award from the Academy of Country Music. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with over 75 million records sold. Since 2018, Bryan has been a judge on American Idol.
Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. is an American country singer-songwriter. He is the oldest son of singer Rhett Akins.
Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by vocalists and songwriters Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida. Their 2012 debut single "Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over seven million times, making it the first country song ever to receive the Diamond certification, and it became the best-selling digital country song, with 24 weeks at number one, until it was surpassed in July 2017 by Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road". Their music style is described as "bro-country", which incorporates production elements from rock and hip hop music, and tends to cover subject matter such as partying, drinking, driving trucks and sexual attraction.
Dan + Shay is an American country pop music duo composed of vocalists and songwriters Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. They are signed to Warner Records Nashville and have released five albums, Where It All Began, Obsessed, Dan + Shay, Good Things and Bigger Houses. Of their nine singles, five have topped the Country Airplay chart and three have topped the Hot Country Songs chart. The duo have collaborated with Justin Bieber, Charlie Puth, Rascal Flatts, Lindsey Stirling, RaeLynn, and Kelly Clarkson. From 2019 to 2021, the duo won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the songs "Tequila", "Speechless", and "10,000 Hours".
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