Who Is Country Music Best Singer?

so many more
umm..I'll assume you are not from US. No problem, if that's the case.

Best is a relative term... there's no way I could tell you who is best as I don't know your criteria for deciding who is best for you.

Originals like Hank Williams, Sr., Jimmy Rodgers, Patsy Cline..so many to name. My fave was Patsy Cline. You might want to pick up anything Patsy Cline did. She sang 'Walking After Midnight', I Fall to Pieces, 'Crazy'. IMHO, that was Country music at it's finest. She still sends chills up and down my spine.

You can look up on a search engine like Google who sold the most records. Though, I don't feel that's a good criteria, it can give you an idea who was heard a lot on the radio.

Johnny Cash was huge...particularly from around 1957-1980 -- and then again from 90s onward til his death in Sep't of 2003. 1957 was his first hit, I Walk the Line'). He and his wife, June Carter Cash and the Carter Family, are part of Country music's royal family.

In a career that spanned almost five decades, Cash was the personification of country music to many people around the world, changing the genre and the boundaries of popular music forever.

He sold over 50 million albums in his nearly 50-year career and is generally recognized as one of the most important musicians in the history of American popular music..not JUST country music.

'Ring of Fire' was a huge cross-over hit, 'as was Folsom Prison Blues' , (A Boy Named Sue'), 'Johnny Cash at San Quentin' (1969).

I like Kenny Rogers. Look for 'The Gambler' and 'Kenny', which are considered by some of the most influential country albums ever, accourding to some sources. He sang in the late '60s early 70s with the The First Edition (renamed "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition"). They did some pop/rock/country styled songs...like "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In", "Reuben James".

His solo carrer started to flourish and 'Love Lifted Me' was a hit around 1976 -77. Around that time he started to break the big time...

Self-titled album, 'Kenny Rogers', whose first single "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", was another solo hit. However, it took "Lucille" in 1977 to blow Rogers' post-First Edition career wide open, reaching Number One in no fewer than 12 countries, selling over five million copies world-wide and pushing the Kenny Rogers album to #1 in the Country Album Chart. More success was to follow, including the multi-million selling album The Gambler and another international Number 1 single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, 'Kenny'.

He has charted more than 60 top 40 hit singles (including upwards of 25 #1's) and no fewer than 50 of his albums have charted. His music has also been featured in top selling movie soundtracks, such as 'Convoy' and 'Urban Cowboy'.

Kenny teamed up with close friend and country singer Dottie West for a series of albums and duets. Together the duo had 3 hit albums. Their hits together "Every Time Two Fools Collide", "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" and "What Are We Doing In Love" became Country standards.

Later in 1980 came his partnership with Lionel Richie who wrote and produced Rogers' #1 hit "Lady". Richie went on to write and produce Rogers' 1981 album Share Your Love, a chart topper and commercial favorite featuring hits such as "I Don't Need You" and "Through The Years".

He sang in 1983 with Dolly Parton the famous duet love ballad, "Islands in the Stream".

A Newer hit of his is 'Water & Bridges''. The first single from the album, "I Can't Unlove You," is also a hit.

I've given you a headstart on your research. If I were you, I'd look up Garth Brooks, who since aound 1992 has far eclipsed Kenny's hitmaking and album sales...in fact, eclipsed everyone else's, too!
Try researching Brooks and Dunn ..they're awesome too.

Also, look up Reba McEntire, too. She's beeen making hits since 1978 to present. She was the first woman to have the highest grossing concert tour in country music. In 1994 and 1995, her stage show outgrossed all other country artists. Her 1997 package tour with Brooks & Dunn was the largest grossing tour in country music history at the time.

Also, while you're researching country singers, research Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Carl Perkins, Elvis, Glen Campbell, Ronnie Milsap...just for starters. (Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, formed the country music supergroup, The Highwaymen.)

Then there's George Strait, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn. More up-to-date, look up Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Vince Gill.

Hope this helps you get an overview.

This is a trick question.

There is no good country and western singer.

<waits expectantly for prizes>

kidding?


I know you're kidding..(right?)

Nope. I love all other music, but I won't try to force you to join my No Country Music Likin' Group.

Seriously. If TTH's government spies ever catch me, I'll give them everyone's name if they use Country Music on me.

Oh, Ragman, this is just great, thank you very much. By "best", I meant what the majority of the people consider "best". Although I agree the number of records may not represent the quality ("best"), it somehow shows the tendency of the popular taste.

No, I don't live in the US, that's why I did not realize how big Johnny Cash was. I knew him and Glen Campbell as a young kid but kind of lost track of them. So it is only after JC's death that I saw all the stores were just flooded with his merchandise, actually for quite a long time, and even now there are still a lot around.

You mentioned he only sold 50 million records? Kenny Rogers sold more than 100 million, so I am very surprised about JC's numbers. I have started recently to listen to his CDs and DVDs. The CD from the San Quentin concert is pretty good, there is one with Willie Nelson (whom I did not know before) which is also very good. I am going to try to find the "Ring of Fire". I find JC very funny with his lyrics and there is a lot of laughter and conversation with the audience in his concerts. I like that type of personality a lot, that's one of the main things I like in JC.

By the way, Kenny Rogers is my favourite country singer, and Lady is my favorite country song. And I just simply adore Lionel Richie. So I really enjoyed reading all the information you wrote. I am going to try to listen to some of the other singers, just to discover something new. Thanks for all the info again.

If you like the older country music, check out Merl Haggard. George Jones and Eddie Rabbit.

And check this link, too.

Well, then you're entitled to your opinion. But, I think you must not have heard much of a broad cross-section of the ones written about in my reply. If you have, then ignore this reply.

For many years (late 50s and early 60s), I didn't care for that much for Country and Western music -- with all that yodeling and poor recording quality. Then I opened my mind and my ears to what happend in country music and how it evolved in the late '60s and early 70s. The recording and overall quality level changed immensely.

I still am not a fan for my lyrics like "I lost my job...my dog died and my wife left me" ... but there's far more to it now than that..and it requires unbiased exposure to some of the top names. I defy you to say after listening that you dislike all of Johnny Cash, Reba MeEntire, or Patsy Cline

I'm sorry, dear. I was kidding. My apologies. There's this one song by Wynonna Judd, that seems free of all the disconcerting noises that accompany most country music.

Those figures I gave were part of segment in time..not his lifetime record sales.

If I can find that at some point tonight I'll post it.

As I mentioned earlier Garth Brooks eclipsed them both, I believe.

Commander Cody

Well, not my first choice, but, Conway Twittie had more #1 records than any other country singer, according to answers.com. - edgarblythe

Originally a '50s rock & roll singer, Conway Twitty became the reigning country superstar of the '70s and '80s, racking up a record 40 number one hits over the course of two decades. With his deep, resonant down-home voice, Twitty was one of the smoothest balladeers to work in Nashville during the country-pop era, but he was also one of the most adventurous. More than any other singer, he was responsible for selling country as an "adult" music, slipping sexually suggestive lyrics into his lush productions, yet never singing misogynist lyrics -- by and large, his songs were sensitive and sensual, which is part of the reason why he achieved such a large success. Once Twitty reached the top of the country charts in the late '60s, he stayed there for years on end, releasing a consistent stream of Top Ten hits that both defined and expanded the limitations of country-pop by adding subtle R&B, pop, and rock & roll influences. Though he had some pop success, Twitty remained country to the core -- occasionally, his song titles were simply too corny -- which was why he retained his popularity until his death in 1993.

The son of a riverboat captain, Twitty (born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, September 1, 1933; died June 5, 1993) was born in Mississippi and raised in Helena, AR, where he learned to love not only country, but also blues and gospel. When he was ten years old, he joined his first group, the Phillips Country Ramblers, who occasionally performed on local radio. Despite his interest in music, he originally planned to become a professional baseball player. Jenkins was talented enough to be offered a contract by the Philadelphia Phillies, but he was unable to join the team, since he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. While he was serving in the Far East, he sang with a country band called the Cimarrons. Returning to America in 1956, Jenkins still had an open offer to join the Phillies, yet he decided to pursue a musical career after he heard Elvis Presley.

With dreams of recording for Sun Records, Jenkins headed to Memphis, where Sam Phillips did indeed sign him to a recording contract, but none of the tracks he cut were ever released; Jenkins' biggest contribution to the label was writing "Rock House," a minor hit for Roy Orbison. Leaving Sun in late 1956, he set out on a rockabilly package tour, during which he invented the stage name of Conway Twitty by combining the names of an Arkansas and Texas city, respectively. At the beginning of 1957, he signed to Mercury Records, where he released a handful of singles that didn't make much of an impact, though "I Need Your Lovin'" scraped the very bottom of the pop charts. In 1958, he moved to MGM Records, where he finally achieved success with "It's Only Make Believe," a song he had written with Jack Nance. Recorded with vocal support by Presley's back group, the Jordanaires, "It's Only Make Believe" became a major hit, spending two weeks at number one and going gold. Over the course of 1959 and 1960, Twitty released a number of singles, the most popular of which were the Top Ten "Danny Boy" and "Lonely Blue Boy," and appeared in the B movies Sex Kittens Go to College, Platinum High School, and College Confidential.

Twitty's rock & roll fame arrived suddenly and it went away just as quickly. By the beginning of 1961, his singles had stopped entering the Top 40. Nevertheless, he continued to tour, but soon MGM dropped him from their roster. Signing with ABC-Paramount, he began to add more country songs to his repertoire, yet he was still primarily recording pop material. Once Ray Price took Twitty's "Walk Me to the Door" to the country Top Ten, Conway decided he wanted to become a country singer, but he didn't actively pursue that avenue until 1965, when he walked out in the middle of a concert at a New Jersey nightclub. By the end of 1965, Twitty had begun a collaboration with record producer Owen Bradley, one of the cornerstones of the Nashville sound, and had signed to Decca Records. In the spring of the following year, he released his first country single, "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart," which peaked at number 18. For the next two years, he had a steady stream of four minor hits, finally breaking into the Top Ten with "The Image of Me" in the spring of 1968, followed a few months later by his first number one hit, "Next in Line." For the next four years, he had a string of 12 Top Five singles for Decca, eight of which -- including "I Love You More Today," "To See My Angel Cry," "Hello Darlin'," "Fifteen Years Ago," and "How Much More She Can Stand" -- were number one hits.

In late 1970, he began a professional relationship with Loretta Lynn, releasing their first duet, "After the Fire Is Gone," early in 1971. The record became the first of five straight number one country hits, which also included "Lead Me On," "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man," "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone," and "Feelins'." Over the course of the decade, Twitty and Lynn continued to work together, releasing one album a year and racking up a total of 14 Top Ten hits; they also won four Duo of the Year awards from the Country Music Association, three Vocal Group of the Year honors from the Academy of Country Music, and one Grammy for Best Vocal Performance by a Group ("After the Fire Is Gone").

Twitty's solo career continued to thrive alongside his duets with Lynn. In 1973, Decca became absorbed by MCA Records, and all of his new records were released on MCA. The changeover in labels happened to coincide with an increased suggestiveness in much of his material, including the major hit single "You've Never Been This Far Before," which spent three weeks at number one during the summer of 1973, despite being banned by several radio stations. Not all of his songs were as explicitly sexual, yet they all had an adult theme and their layered, string-laden production was designed for more mature audience, who bought Twitty records in droves. Until 1983, he had a remarkably consistent string of Top Ten singles for Decca, most of which hit number one. Among his best-known hits from this era were "I See the Want To in Your Eyes," "Linda in My Mind," "Touch the Hand," "After All the Good Is Gone," "I've Already Loved You in My Mind," "Happy Birthday Darlin'," "Tight Fittin' Jeans," and "Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night." As he continued to rule the charts, Twitty expanded into other business ventures, including banking, property, a booking agency, and ultimately, a theme park called Twitty City. The size of his international popularity was confirmed when he re-recorded "Hello Darlin'" in Russian for a joint American/Soviet space mission.

In late 1981, he briefly moved to Elektra, where he released several hit singles, many of which were pop covers like the Pointer Sisters' "Slow Hand" and Bette Midler's "The Rose." Twitty signed with Elektra in 1983, where he had a string of hits over the next three years. Again, he covered several pop songs -- the Eagles' "Heartache Tonight," the Commodores' "Three Times a Lady" -- but he kept recording country songs, including the number ones "Somebody's Needin' Somebody," "I Don't Know a Thing About Love (The Moon Songs)," "Don't Call Him a Cowboy," and "Desperado Love," a 1986 chart-topper which proved to be his last number one.

Twitty returned to MCA in 1987, releasing the back-to-back number two hits "Julia" and "I Want to Know You Before We Make Love." Though he continued to have Top Ten hits through the end of the decade, his success began to slip slightly in the early '90s, once new country forced older performers off the top of the charts. Nevertheless, he remained quite popular, selling both records and concert tickets, until his sudden death from an abdominal aneurysm in the summer of 1993. Immediately following his death, he was praised and mourned from all quarters of the public, not just country music fans, and his record of over 40 number one hits remains unlikely to be surpassed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

I don't know if you can call John Cale country or not but I think he is top ten song-writer/performer. Certinaly a favorite of mine.

J.J. Cale (born John W. Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American songwriter and musician best known for writing two songs that Eric Clapton made famous, "After Midnight" and "Cocaine". Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean Jacques Cale". In fact, a Sunset Strip nightclub owner employing Cale in the mid-1960's came up with the "J.J" moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale.

Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a very loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back", and is characterized by shuffle rhythms, simple chord changes, understated vocals, and clever, incisive lyrics. Cale is also a very distinctive and idiosyncratic guitarist, incorporating both Travis-like fingerpicking and gentle, meandering electric solos. His recordings also reflect his stripped-down, laid-back ethos; his album versions are usually quite succint and often recorded entirely by Cale alone, using drum machines for rhythm accompaniment. Live, however, as evidenced on his 2001 Live album and 2006 To Tulsa And Back film, he and his band regularly stretch the songs out and improvise heavily.

Many artists, including Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young and Bryan Ferry, have noted Cale's influence on their music; several artists in addition to Clapton have made hits of Cale songs, and many more have covered them. Cale has often noted that he writes and records songs primarily so that other artists will cover them, but given the texturally spare but fine craftsmanship on his albums, this sentiment is far from universal. His most covered songs include "Call Me the Breeze", "Sensitive Kind", and "Cocaine".

Cale is also well known for his longstanding aversion to stardom, extensive touring, and even continual recording. He has happily remained a relatively obscure cult artist for the last 35 years.

The release of his album, To Tulsa and Back in 2004, his appearance at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, and the 2006 release of the film documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J. J. Cale, have brought his understated discography and songwriting to a new audience. This mainstream exposure continued into late 2006 with the release of a collaborative album with Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido.

Now, we're cooking here with info ...Yeah..JJ Cale awesome lyrics...and broadening of the topic's horizons. This is why I love this forum.

A few years ago, I felt somewhat as Lash did - until I taught myself to open up and listen to to all that I could. ...looking up more info.

Can't believe I left out Conway Twitty. (I think I left out George Jones, too.)

Here's a more complete list.

And, it has Johhny Cash as number one!

I grew up on country (60's and 70's) having been raised on a ranch.

One of the 45's I got for my open and close record player when I was 7 was Loretta Lynn's "One's on the Way." The other was "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." Seems weird now that I would be given those to listen to.

Loved Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelious. Loretta and Conway. Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton.

Ah, feels like home.

I love Johnny Cash.






Just had to say it again.....

Miss Patsy Cline.

I think Olivier Newton John was one singer that could not be categorized and she won a Country Music award once, I think.

I liked Cash's 'A girl named Sue'
Olivier Newton John's 'I honestly love you'
Merle Haggard something about the game of football
Mac Davis about 'It's hard to be humble'

Johnny Cash did A Boy Named Sue

Her name is olivia newton John..and she's not a country singer whether or not she won an award.

Hank Williams Jr. (not Merle haggard) sings "Are You Ready for Some Football'...which was his former hit. his lyrics of "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" to "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here On Monday Night"..it's the lead-in to Monday night football. it had been worded differently...and he changed the words at ABC's request.