Most Popular Folk Music Artists in America

Check out the most popular folk music artists in America, according to data from Spotify.

Country Music

Country music is a genre of American popular music that originated in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the Southeast’s traditional English and Scottish ballads and blues and Appalachian music. Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms, folk lyrics, and harmonies mostly accompanied by string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, steel guitars (such as pedal steels and dobros), and fiddles as well as harmonicas.

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and author. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide. His genre-spanning songs and sound embraced rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel. This versatility made him difficult to categorize and he had a massive influence on popular culture. He is one of the most iconic figures in country music history and his contributions were recognized with numerous awards throughout his career, including 15 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the National Medal of Arts. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001 and the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

Willie Nelson

No other artist in country music history has had such a profound and widespread impact as Willie Nelson. He is an iconoclastic figure who has transcended genres and demographics, appealing to fans of all ages and from all walks of life. His career has spanned six decades, during which time he has released over 200 albums and written some of the most beloved songs in the American songbook, including “Crazy,” “night Life,” and “On the Road Again.” In addition to his musical achievements, Nelson is also a noted actor, having appeared in such films as The Electric Horseman and Honeysuckle Rose. He is also a tireless campaigner for social and environmental causes, most notably his work with Farm Aid. At the age of 84, Willie Nelson shows no signs of slowing down, continuing to tour and release new music to the delight of his millions of fans around the world.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music. Her contributions to the genre have resulted in worldwide recognition. She has achieved 25 RIAA certified Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum albums and 110 million records sold worldwide. She has had 25 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top 10 country singles, a record for any artist, all-genre singles charts included.

Folk Music

Folk music has been around since the early days of America and has been constantly evolving to reflect the changing times. There are many different folk music artists out there, but who are the most popular ones in America?

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is one of the most popular folk music artists in America. His songs often deal with social and political issues, and he is known for his protests against the Vietnam War. Dylan has released a number of successful albums, including Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks.

Joan Baez

Baez is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has recorded songs in at least six other languages. Although generally considered a folk singer, her music has diversified since the counterculture era of the 1960s, incorporating elements of pop, rock, jazz, and blues.

Born in Staten Island, New York, Baez is the middle daughter of a Presbyterian minister and a Mexican-American father who was a physicist. When Joan was 10 years old the family moved to Baltimore where she learned to play classical guitar and soon after signed a recording contract with Vanguard Records. Her debut album was released in 1960 and featured the single “Donna Donna,” which became a Top 40 hit in various countries worldwide.

During the early 1960s Baez became an integral part of the American folk music revival appearing at various Coffeehouses and music festivals up and down the East Coast. In 1964 she released her fourth studio album “Folksingers ‘Round the World” which included renditions of traditional folk songs from various countries including Italy (“La Bamba”), Japan (“Sakura”), Spain (“Eléanor Rigby”), Chile (“La Paloma Blanca”), Rumania (“Danny Boy”), France (“Plaisir d’amour”) and Russia (“Kosachki”).

In 1968 Baez founded The Institute for the Study of Nonviolence near Santa Cruz, California with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s New York roommate Bernard Lee. The following year she toured Europe with The Rolling Stones as part of their “Bigger Bang Tour.” During this time she also released three live albums: “David’s Album,” recorded with her then-boyfriend David Harris during his time in prison; “Joan Baez in Concert,” recorded during her 1971 North American tour; and “Live Europe ’71,” recorded during her European tour with The Rolling Stones that same year.

In 1975 Baez toured Europe again this time with Bob Dylan as part of his “Rolling Thunder Review” tour which also featured Roger McGuinn, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and T-Bone Burnett among others. The following year she released an album of duets with Dylan called “Diamonds & Rust” which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart.

During the 1980s Baez appeared on Amnesty International’s benefit concerts for human rights around the world including their 1985 two-night stand at Madison Square Garden which also featured U2, Sting, Bryan Adams and Peter Gabriel among others. In 1987 she appeared on another Amnesty International benefit concert this time at Wembley Stadium which also featured Bruce Springsteen, Youssou N’Dour and Tracy Chapman among others.

In 1995 Baez was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well as receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that same year. She continued to tour throughout the 1990s and 2000s performing both solo acoustic shows as well as full band electric shows usually featuring her son Jackson Browne on guitar. In 2006 she released an album of duets called “Duets” which featured Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Emmylou Harris, Indigo Girls among others.

In 2012 Baez received Smithsonian Institution’s Living Legend Award as well as being inducted into the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by U.S President Barack Obama who described her as “a voice that helped fuel movements for peace and justice around t

Simon & Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the most popular recording artists of the 1960s and became counterculture idols of the decade’s youth. Their biggest hits—including “The Sound of Silence” (1964), “Mrs. Robinson” (1968), and “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1970)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide.

Born in 1941 and 1943 respectively, in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, Simon and Garfunkel met as pupils at Forest Hills High School. By 1957, under the name Tom & Jerry, they had their first minor success with “Hey Schoolgirl”, a song imitating their idols the Everly Brothers. Afterwards, the duo went their separate ways, with Simon making unsuccessful solo records. In 1963, aware of a growing public interest in folk music, they regrouped and were signed to Columbia Records as Tom & Jerry. Their début, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., sold poorly upon release in October 1964; it was their only album not to reach the Billboard 200 chart or become gold or platinum certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

After a Analyzing commercial failure and legal wranglings prevented them from reuniting until February 1970 for a free concert in New York’s Central Park that attracted more than 500,000 people—one of the largest audiences in rock history—to which Garfunkel quipped: “I think we might have won them over.” The duo split again shortly thereafter but reunited once more later that year for the release of Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). It was their most successful album—sponsoring top-ten singles including its title track; both received Grammy Awards for Record and Song of the Year—and remains one of the best-selling albums ever made (over 25 million copies sold globally).

Bluegrass Music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and it is one of the most popular genres of folk music in America. Bluegrass artists often use a variety of instruments, including the banjo, fiddle, and guitar. Some of the most popular bluegrass artists include Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers.

Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe is considered the “Father of Bluegrass Music.” He was born in Kentucky in 1911, and was raised on a farm where he learned to play the mandolin. In the 1930s, he began playing music with his brothers, and they eventually formed the Monroe Brothers. In 1939, they started playing on the radio, which helped them gain popularity. In the 1940s, Bill Monroe formed his own band, called the Bluegrass Boys. The band included many famous bluegrass musicians, such as Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt.

Monroe’s style of music was fast-paced and included improvisation. He is credited with creating many of the traditional bluegrass sounds, such as using a three-finger picking style on the banjo and using double fiddles in the band. His bands were also some of the first to use microphones to amplify their sound.

Bill Monroe recorded over 200 songs and released more than 60 albums during his career. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Grand Ole Opry in 1971. He died in 1996, but his music continues to be popular today.

Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs was an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style now known as the “Scruggs style.” His playing in Bill Monroe’s band and on Steve Martin’s hit song “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” helped secure bluegrass music’s place in American culture. Scruggs received many honors for his contributions to the music world, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

Lester Flatt

Lester Flatt was an American bluegrass singer and guitarist born in 1914 in Tennessee. He is best known for his work with banjo player Earl Scruggs in the duo Flatt & Scruggs. The pair first played together in 1948 and went on to release over 50 singles, including the hit “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”, before breaking up in 1969. Flatt continued to record and perform as a solo artist until his death in 1979.

Cajun Music

The fiddle is the primary instrument in Cajun music, and is often accompanied by the accordion and guitar. Cajun music is a type of folk music that originated in Louisiana. It is a mix of French, Spanish, and African influences.

Clifton Chenier

Clifton Chenier (June 29, 1925 – December 12, 1987) was an American Louisiana blues and zydeco musician. He is considered the most important figure in the history of zydeco music. His flagship song “Ay Tete Fee” (1954) was covered by many artists including Ry Cooder on his Grammy winning album The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed (1998). Chenier’s style of zydeco combined bounces, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, blues guitar work and topical lyrics. He is credited with having introduced the Indian Creek people’s music to mainstream audiences in the early 1950s.

The Dixie Cups

The Dixie Cups are an American pop music group, best known for their 1964 hit “Iko Iko”. They were also a frequent guest on the television show “Shindig!” The group originally consisted of Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, and Joan Johnson. The Dixie Cups were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Buckwheat Zydeco

Buckwheat Zydeco is a zydeco and accordion-based band from southwest Louisiana founded by Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. in the 1970s. The band’s music is a blend of Cajun, zydeco, R&B, soul, and rock and roll. They have toured extensively both nationally and internationally, and have been featured on a number of television shows and movies. In 2005, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for their album Lay Your Burden Down.