Since the 1990s, country music has evolved from its gospel and blues origins into the pop country that many have associated it with in the past few decades.
Fans have also seen traditional pop artists taking their own swing at the country genre.
The folk and Americana sides of country music have seen a steady rise in popularity, thanks in part to social media, but also thanks to the rise of artists like Zach Bryan, who draws people who typically aren’t fans of country and introduces them to new music.
Another part of this rise can be attributed to artists like Beyoncé, Post Malone and Lana Del Rey returning to their roots and releasing their versions of country music. Artists like these, who are typically far from the country genre, have released or announced the release of country albums over the past year.
Beverly Keel, dean of the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle State University, is no stranger to the country music industry. She spent 25 years of her career working as an entertainment journalist, and another ten as a music publicist. She began covering the industry in 1992, at the beginning of the boom led by artists including Garth Brooks in country music.
Keel expressed that the new age of the music industry allowed artists to gain traction without ever having a commercial radio hit. Artists like Zach Bryan and Jelly Roll sold out tours before they ever saw a radio hit.
“They attract fans who aren’t typically country fans,” Keel said. “It just happens every once in a while … they’ll cross over.”
In 2024, Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter, taking her fans from her well-known pop and hip-hop sounds to her Texas roots in country music.
At the Billboard and NMPA Songwriter Awards celebration on Jan. 31, Lana Del Rey announced her upcoming country album Lasso.
Post Malone entered country charts with a duet version of the late Joe Diffie’s “Pickup Man,” which was billed as Diffie featuring Malone. Malone released his own country album F-1 Trillion, which features country icons Hank Williams Jr., Dolly Parton and other names charting in country radio.
This crossover isn’t only happening in music. From film to fashion, more and more consumers have been flourishing in the world of country and Western, as it has snowballed into a trend. More people than ever are picking up country dancing as a hobby and wearing vintage Wranglers as a fashion statement rather than for blue-collar work.
Thanks to the success of shows like Yellowstone, along with its prequels 1883 and 1924, the Western genre in television has also seen a rise in popularity, as fans take musical inspiration from the shows’ soundtracks and fashion inspiration from the shows and from the wardrobes on the screen.
Pop artists “going country” and the rise of Western influences in pop culture aren’t the only things causing country music to trend. For some artists, “going country” means returning to exactly where they started. Taylor Swift attracts a plethora of fans because of genre diversity throughout her discography, introducing listeners to ideas and circumstances that they’ve never heard before.
“And we have artists like Taylor Swift and The Chicks who attract pop fans to their music,” Keel said.
The rise in the trendiness of country music can also be attributed to artists like Morgan Wallen, who was the first country artist to have hits that big. Up until the popularity rise in Wallen’s albums, country albums were almost never seen charting so well on Billboard. Even artists like Zach Byran introduced an entire demographic of people to Americana.
Many see the appeal of country music to be its realness. Virginia native and country artist Carly Rose Ratcliffe didn’t grow up in a traditional country household, but instead, she integrated herself into the world of country music by being involved in 4H and other stereotypically “country” organizations. She immersed herself in it and, even though she began playing in a rock band, her songs always came out country, she said.
Ratcliffe brought up how country music trends have changed over the years, reaching back to artists such as Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, saying that they didn’t make “truck and beer music,” they wrote real songs about real things and real feelings, and that is exactly what the genre is finally shifting back into.
To contact the Magazine editor, email magazine@mtsusidelines.com.
For more, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
