80s Country Music Hits: The Best of the Decade
Contents
Looking for some good old fashioned country music to take you back to the 80s? Look no further than this list of the best country hits of the decade!
Introduction
The 1980s saw the rise of country music as a dominant force in the music industry. Thanks to artists like Hank Williams Jr., George Strait, and Alabama, country music enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that it hadn’t seen since the 1960s. The 1980s also saw the rise of new subgenres of country music, including country-pop and neotraditionalist country.
This list collects the best country songs of the 1980s, as voted on by Taste of Country’s editorial staff. These are the biggest hits, the songs that defined the decade and made country music what it is today. From classics like George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” to modern classics like Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places,” these are the greatest country songs of the 1980s.
The Best of the Decade
The 1980s was a decade that saw a lot of change in the country music landscape. Some of the biggest names in the genre emerged during this time, including George Strait, Reba McEntire, and Alabama. The sound of country music also began to change, with more pop and rock influences creeping in. If you’re a fan of country music, then you definitely need to check out these 80s country music hits!
George Strait
George Strait is one of the most successful country music artists of all time. During the 1980s, he released a string of hit singles that helped to define the sound of country music for a new generation. Hits like “All My Ex’s Live in Texas,” “The Fireman,” and “Ocean Front Property” made George Strait a household name and established him as one of the most popular country artists of the decade.
Randy Travis
Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and Christian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active since 1985, he has recorded twenty studio albums and compiled more than fifty hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot Christian Songs charts, including nineteen that reached the No. 1 position on one or both. Considered a pivotal figure in the history of country music, Travis broke through in the mid-1980s with the release of his album Storms of Life, which sold more than four million copies. The album’s fourth single “Forever and Ever, Amen” was named one of the 100 greatest country songs of all time by Country Music Television(CMT) in 2002 and number eight on CMT’s 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music in 2003. By the late 1990s, Travis saw a decline in his chart success after reaching its peak in 1987 through 1990; later becoming overshadowed by newer artists Clay Walker (who would surpass Travis’ four-year streak being at No. 1 on Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) with his debut single “Live Until I Die”), Mark Chesnuttand Wynonna Judd.[citation needed]Travis began to regain some chart momentum beginning in 1998 into 1999 culminating with his twenty-first Top Ten hit “The Hole”. In the 2000s he scored five more number one hits followed by a further five Top Ten singles from his most recent album around My Heart released on April 28 2009 before taking another extended break from recording new music; although he remains active as an touring artist staging near 150 shows every year during this period between 2006–2010.[citation needed]
Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 16 studio albums, three greatest hits albums, two Christmas albums, and two gospel albums. He is nicknamed “The Traditionalist” and has been referred to as the George Strait of country music.
Jackson was born to Joseph Eugene “Daddy Gene” Jackson and Ruth Musick in Newnan, Georgia, on October 17, 1958. He was the fourth of five children; he has two older sisters named Linda and Suzanne, an older brother named Randy, and a younger brother named Wes. The Jacksons lived in a small home built by Gene’s father, Joe Jackson (no relation to the pop star Michael Jackson), in a rural farming community. The family roots trace back to Ireland; Alan’s grandfather immigrated from County Armagh. As a young child Alan played various sports including football while also taking piano lessons from his mother once a week from age seven until he was 13 or 14.
In high school Alan planned to pursue a career in music after graduation but his father told him he needed to find a job and had to start supporting himself financially if he wanted to play music professionally. Alan worked at various jobs including shoe stores, a used car lot, grocery stores, and an oil change place while waiting for his musical career to take off. He continued playing piano at various clubs around town during this time as well but still struggled financially for several years before finally finding success as a musician in the early 1990s.
Alan Jackson’s first album was released in 1990 titled Here in the Real World which included three number one hit singles: “Here in the Real World”, “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow”, and “I’d Love You All Over Again”. His second album Don’t Rock the Jukebox was released in 1991 with another number one hit single by the same name as well as two other top ten singles: “Someday” and “Dallas”. Jackson’s third album A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ’bout Love) was released in 1992 with four more top ten singles: “She’s Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)”, “Mercury Blues”, “Midnight in Montgomery”, and “(Who Says) You Can’t Have It All”.
Since then Alan Jackson has continued to release successful albums with many more hits including: ” Chattahoochee”, ” Gone Country”, ” Livin’ on Love”, ” I’ll Go on Loving You”, ” Wanna Be That Song”, “\`Twas The Night Before Christmas” ,and many more.
Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous debut album was released in 1989 and quickly topped the country charts, while his follow-up album, No Fences, became the best-selling album of all time. Dubbed “The King of Country,” Brooks has since released more than a dozen albums, all of which have been certified platinum or higher. He is also one of the few artists to receive the coveted Diamond Award from the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying sales of more than 10 million copies of a single album.
George Jones
George Jones continued to be one of the genre’s biggest superstars throughout the 1980s. Some of his most popular songs from this decade include “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song),” and “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.”
Conclusion
When it comes to 80s country music, there are a lot of great songs to choose from. This decade was full of innovation and new sounds, and many of the artists from this era went on to become some of the biggest names in the genre. If you’re looking for a good place to start exploring 80s country music, these ten songs are a great place to start.
