Loretta Lynn was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as: "Hey Loretta", "The Pill", "Blue Kentucky Girl", "Love Is the Foundation", "You're Lookin' at Country", "You Ain't Woman Enough", "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl", "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' ", "One's on the Way", "Fist City", and "Coal Miner's Daughter". The 1980 musical film Coal Miner's Daughter was based on her life.
Harold Ray Ragsdale, known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty hits such as "Gitarzan" and "The Streak". Stevens has received gold albums for his music sales and has worked as a producer, music arranger, and television host. He is also an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Kay Toinette Oslin was an American country music singer-songwriter. She had several years of major commercial success in the late 1980s after signing a record deal at age 45. Oslin had four number one hits and placed additional singles on the Billboard country chart during that timespan; in addition, she won three Grammy Awards and is an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Kenneth Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums that included more than 40 Top 10 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 32 of which have reached number one. Many of these have also charted within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making him one of the most successful crossover country artists. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
Gretchen Frances Wilson is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the Billboard country charts. The song served as the lead-off single of her debut album, Here for the Party. Wilson followed this album one year later with All Jacked Up, the title track of which became the highest-debuting single for a female country artist upon its 2005 release. A third album, One of the Boys, was released in 2007.
The Gambler is the sixth studio album by American singer Kenny Rogers, released by United Artists in November 1978. One of his most popular, it has established Rogers' status as one of the most successful artists of the 1970s and 1980s. The album reached many markets around the world, such as the Far East and Jamaica, with Rogers later commenting "When I go to Korea or Hong Kong people say 'Ah, the gambler!'". The album has sold over 5 million copies.
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin" from his first album, Blake Shelton. "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The now Platinum-certified debut album also produced two more top 20 entries.
Elvis Presley is the debut studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Victor, on March 23, 1956,. The recording sessions took place on January 10 and January 11 at the RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and on January 30 and January 31 at the RCA Victor studios in New York. Additional material originated from sessions at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 5, August 19 and September 10, 1954, and on July 11, 1955.
Jamie O'Neal is an Australian country music singer and songwriter.
Country pop is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres like rock, pop, and country, continuing similar efforts that began in the late 1950s, known originally as the Nashville sound and later on as Countrypolitan. By the mid-1970s, many country artists were transitioning to the pop-country sound, which led to some records charting high on the mainstream top 40 and the Billboard country chart. In turn, many pop and easy listening artists crossed over to country charts during this time. After declining in popularity during the neotraditional movement of the 1980s, country pop had a comeback in the 1990s with a sound that drew more heavily on pop rock and adult contemporary. In the 2010s, country pop metamorphisized again with the addition of hip-hop beats and rap-style phrasing.
"You Don't Know Me" is a song written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker in 1955. "You Don't Know Me" was first recorded by Arnold that year and released as a single on April 21, 1956, on RCA Victor. The best-selling version of the song is by Ray Charles, who took it to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1962, after releasing the song on his number 1 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The first version of the song to make the Billboard charts was by Jerry Vale in 1956, peaking at number 14 on the pop chart. Arnold's version charted two months later, released as an RCA Victor single, 47–6502, backed with "The Rockin' Mockin' Bird", which reached number 10 on the Billboard country chart. Cash Box magazine, which combined all best-selling versions at one position, included a version by Carmen McRae that never appeared in the Billboard Top 100 Sides listing.
He Thinks He's Ray Stevens was Ray Stevens' twenty-first studio album and his first for MCA Records, released in 1984. The front of the album cover shows Stevens spoofing French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. It was recorded in an effort to reestablish Stevens as a comic singer after a period in the early 1980s when he had focused mainly on serious material.
Margo Smith is an American country and Christian music singer–songwriter. She had several years of country success during the 1970s, which included two number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In the 1990s, she transitioned towards the Christian market and issued two successful albums. She is also known for her yodeling vocal skills and is often referred to as "The Tennessee Yodeler".
"The Streak" is a country/novelty song written, produced, and sung by Ray Stevens. It was released in February 1974 as the lead single to his album Boogity Boogity. "The Streak" capitalized on the then-popular craze of streaking.
Suffer Time is a studio album by American country music artist Dottie West. It was released in July 1966 on RCA Victor Records and was produced by Chet Atkins. It was West's third studio album as a music artist and was her first concept album in her career. The record's concept focused on themes related to heartbreak and lost love. It included new compositions and cover versions of other recordings. These recordings included four singles, including the top ten hit "Would You Hold It Against Me". Suffer Time would become one of West's most successful and highest-selling albums in her career.
I Got a Lot of Hurtin' Done Today / I've Got My Baby on My Mind is the twenty-fourth solo studio album by American country singer Connie Smith. It was released in January 1975 and contained 11 tracks. It was also considered to be one of her "most commercially-successful" discs of the decade, according to biographer Barry Mazor. Three singles were included on the project. Both "I've Got My Baby on My Mind" and her cover of "Why Don't You Love Me" reached the top 15 of the American country songs chart. "I Got a Lot of Hurtin' Done Today" would chart in the top 30. The album itself reached the American country LP's chart in early 1975. Billboard gave the album a positive review following its release.
Black & White is a studio album by American country music artist Janie Frickie. It was released via Columbia Records in July 1986. The project marked the eleventh studio album released in Frickie's music career. The album contained ten tracks of material that mixed country with blues styles. It was the first and only album in Fricke's career to top the America's Billboard country LP's chart. Its two single releases would reach Billboard chart positions, beginning with "Always Have, Always Will."
Michael Ray Roach is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is signed to Warner Music Nashville. He has released two albums for the label: Michael Ray and Amos.
Jerry Owen Bradley was an American music executive known for his role in country music. As head of RCA Records in Nashville from 1973 to 1982, Bradley was involved in the marketing and creation of the first platinum album in country music, Wanted! The Outlaws, which reached that mark in 1976. Bradley was inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019.
I'll Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry is a studio album by American country music artist Janie Fricke. It was released in November 1980 via Columbia Records and contained ten tracks. The disc was a collection of more traditional country songs, a style that Fricke began adapting to after taking a suggestion from a former record producer. It was the fifth studio album issued in Fricke's career and spawned three singles. Both the title track and "Down to My Last Broken Heart" became top five charting singles in the United States. A cover of the song "Pride" reached the top 20.
