William "Billy" Ray Cyrus is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia. It was also the best-selling single in the same country in 1992. Due to the song's music video, the line dance rose in popularity.
Kenneth Arnold Chesney is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, In My Wildest Dreams, in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles that have peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country singer, songwriter 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.
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in Billboard magazine. Billboard biz, the online extension of the Billboard charts, provides additional weekly charts, as well as year-end charts. The two most important charts are the Billboard Hot 100 for songs and Billboard 200 for albums, and other charts may be dedicated to a specific genre such as R&B, country, or rock, or they may cover all genres. The charts can be ranked according to sales, streams, or airplay, and for main song charts such as the Hot 100 song chart, all three data are used to compile the charts. For the Billboard 200 album chart, streams and track sales are included in addition to album sales.
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" (2005) made her the first country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Bolstered by further crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo female country artist, was ranked by Billboard the top country album of the 2000s, and earned Underwood three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. She followed it with Carnival Ride (2007), which sold over half a million copies in its first week and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), yielded the chart-topping single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.
Cashbox, also known as Cash Box, is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as Cashbox Magazine, an online magazine with weekly charts and occasional special print issues. In addition to the music industry, the magazine covered the amusement arcade industry, including jukebox machines and arcade games.
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 metamorphosized again with the addition of hip-hop beats and rap-style phrasing.
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.
The Heatseekers charts are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by Billboard in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical recording artists. Albums and songs appearing on Top Heatseekers may also concurrently appear on the Billboard 200 or Billboard Hot 100.
Billboard Year-End charts are cumulative rankings of entries in Billboard magazine charts in the United States in any given chart year. Several hundred Year-End charts are now published by Billboard, the most important of which are the single or album charts based on Hot 100 and Billboard 200 respectively.
"Jolene" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton. It was produced by Bob Ferguson and recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee on May 22, 1973, then released in October 1973, by RCA Victor as the first single and title track from her album of the same name.
Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales along with digital sales and streaming. The chart was first published in the issue of Billboard dated January 11, 1964, under the title Hot Country Albums, when the number one album was Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash by Johnny Cash.
"I Love You Because" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Leon Payne in 1949. The song has been covered by several artists throughout the years, including hit cover versions by Al Martino in 1963 and Jim Reeves in 1964.
The singles discography of Elvis Presley began in 1954 with the release of his first commercial single, "That's All Right". Following his regional success with Sun Records, Presley was signed to RCA Victor on November 20, 1955. Presley's first single with RCA, "Heartbreak Hotel", was a worldwide hit, reaching the No. 1 position in four countries and the top 10 in many other countries. Other hit singles from the 1950s include "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You", "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "Too Much", "All Shook Up", "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear", "Jailhouse Rock", "Don't", "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck", "Hard Headed Woman", "One Night", "(Now & Then There's) A Fool Such as I", and "A Big Hunk o' Love". On March 24, 1958, Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, and was stationed in Germany. He left active duty on March 5, 1960.
Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, as part of the history of the Country Airplay listing. The chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored by Nielsen BDS, weighted to each station's Nielsen ratings.
Kane Allen Brown is an American country music singer and songwriter. First garnering a mass following on social media, he released his debut extended play (EP) Closer in June 2015, and followed it up with the single, "Used to Love You Sober" in October of that year. After Brown signed with RCA Nashville in early 2016, the song was included on his second EP and major label debut, Chapter 1 in March 2016. He released his eponymous debut studio album later that year in December. The album spawned the single "What Ifs", and in October 2017, Brown became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five main Billboard country charts. Brown released his second album, Experiment, in November 2018, which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200.
Luke Albert Combs is an American country singer. Born and raised in North Carolina, he began performing as a child. After dropping out of college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he released his debut EP, The Way She Rides, in 2014.
Morgan Cole Wallen is an American country singer. He competed in the sixth season of The Voice, originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated in the playoffs of that season, he signed to Panacea Records, releasing his debut EP, Stand Alone, in 2015.
"Old Town Road" is the debut mainstream single by American rapper Lil Nas X, first released independently in December 2018. After gaining popularity, the single was re-released by Columbia Records in March 2019. The rapper also recorded a remix with American country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, which was released on April 5, 2019. Both were included on Lil Nas X's second EP, 7 (2019).
