This is a list of notable events in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

that will take place in 2024.

Events

*January 2 – John Michael Montgomery announces his retirement from touring, with his final tour dates scheduled for the end of 2025. *January 3 – Joe Bonsall of

the Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was change ...

announces his retirement from touring; Ben James finished the Oaks farewell tour in his place. *January 19 – Elle King made headlines after taking to the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

stage while heavily intoxicated during a

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

tribute show, in honor of Parton's 78th birthday. She later cancelled several of her own concerts in the wake of the incident. Parton subsequently came to King's defense during an interview with '' Extra'', and King resumed performing in March. *March 10 – The UK Country Airplay chart, the first ever genre-specific radio chart in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, debuts its inaugural list, with " Creek Will Rise" by

Conner Smith Conner Smith (born September 6, 2000) is an American country music singer. He is signed to Big Machine Records' Valory label and has charted two singles. Smith was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity in college. Biography Conner Smith was ...

claiming the title of first number one single. *April 8 –

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. 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 ...

is arrested for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct after throwing a chair off the sixth floor of Eric Church's rooftop bar in downtown Nashville. He was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor and is due to appear in court on May 3 in between performances at

Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, it is primarily used for football and is the home field of the Tennessee Titans of the Natio ...

. *April 20 –

Scotty McCreery Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country music singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' on May 25, 2011. His debut studio album, '' Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and w ...

is inducted as a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the Grand Ole Opry by his childhood hero Josh Turner. McCreery was invited in December 2023 by

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

. *April 24 – Miranda Lambert signs a joint record deal with

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and

Big Loud Big Loud is an American independent multi-sector entertainment company located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It consists of a record label also known as Big Loud, along with music publishing and talent management divisions. Big Loud wa ...

. *April 26–28 – The 2024 edition of

Stagecoach Festival The Stagecoach Festival is an outdoor country music festival held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Various artists attend, whether they be mainstream or relatively unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream country, bluegrass, ...

takes place at

Empire Polo Club The Empire Polo Club is a 78-acre (32 ha) polo club in Indio, California in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, approximately 22 miles southeast of Palm Springs. Founded in 1987, it has hosted international polo tournaments. It leases ou ...

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

, featuring headline performances from Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, and

. *May 3 –

T. Graham Brown Anthony Graham Brown (born October 30, 1954), known professionally as T. Graham Brown, is an American country music singer. Active since 1973, Brown has recorded a total of thirteen studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the ...

is inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was invited by

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

earlier in the year during his guest appearance on Brown's

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

radio show. *May 3 –

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

releases " Where That Came From", his first new recording in over a decade with the help of AI software to recreate his vocals following a series of strokes and health issues that left him unable to sing. It would go on to chart on both the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

charts, becoming Travis' first solo charting single in nearly two decades since "Angels" in 2005. *May 21 –

Lainey Wilson Lainey Denay Wilson (born May 19, 1992) is an American country music singer–songwriter and actress. Wilson performed from an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her f ...

is surprised by

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

on the season finale of NBC's '' The Voice'' with an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. She was subsequently inducted by Trisha Yearwood and

on June 7. *June 4 –

Lukas Nelson Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, sometimes referred to as POTR, is an American country rock group based in California. The band consists of Lukas Nelson (lead vocals, guitar), Anthony LoGerfo (drums, percussion), Corey McCormick (bass guitar ...

announces that his band, Promise of the Real, would be going on hiatus so that the members can pursue their own projects. *June 15 –

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

's concert at

Kyle Field Kyle Field is the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent con ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

becomes the most-attended ticketed show in US history, with 110,905 fans in attendance. The record was previously held by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

, who played for 107,019 people at Raceway Park in 1977. *June 27 – Raul Malo, lead singer of

the Mavericks The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in ...

, announces that he has been diagnosed with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

and that the band will have to reschedule or cancel several shows in 2024 while he undergoes treatment. *June 30 –

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

performed in the traditional Legend's slot at the 2024 Glastonbury Festival, the first country artist to perform in the slot since

in 2014. *July 5 – The War and Treaty go public about a racist incident where a cotton plant was placed in their dressing room at the Coca-Cola Sips and Sounds Music Festival in Austin, Texas. The band stated that this was only in their dressing room and left them angry and upset based on the history of the plant in regards to black American history. They left the festival immediately after their set and spoke to their young son, who encouraged them to speak up.

Top hits of the year

The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, or Canada Country charts in 2024:

Singles released by American and Australian artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Hall of Fame inductees

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

(announced on March 18, 2024) *

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

* James Burton *

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame

(announced on June 26, 2024) *

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop (music), pop and country music, country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical perfor ...

Deaths

*January –

Audie Blaylock Audie Blaylock (born 1962) is an American singer, guitarist, mandolinist, and composer in the bluegrass tradition. Biography Early years Blaylock was born in El Paso, Texas, but was raised in Lansing, Michigan. Growing up in a family where bot ...

, 61, American bluegrass singer and guitarist (death announced on January 12). *January 5 – Larry Collins, 79, American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

guitarist, songwriter (" Delta Dawn") and member of the Collins Kids, natural causes. *January 13 –

Jo-El Sonnier Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performs country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the ''Bi ...

, 77, American singer-songwriter and accordionist (" Tear Stained Letter", "

No More One More Time "No More One More Time" is a song written by Troy Seals and Dave Kirby, and recorded by the American country music artist Jo-El Sonnier. It was released in February 1988 as the second single from the album ''Come On Joe''. The song reached number ...

"), heart attack. *January 23 –

Margo Smith Margo Smith (born Betty Lou Miller; April 9, 1942 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American country and Christian music singer–songwriter. She had several years of country success during the 1970s, which included two number one hits on the '' Billboard' ...

, 84, American country singer ("

Don't Break the Heart That Loves You "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" is an American song written by Benny Davis and Murray Mencher (using the pseudonym Ted Murry). The song was a success for two artists in two different genres: Connie Francis in the pop field in 1962 and Mar ...

", "

It Only Hurts for a Little While "It Only Hurts for a Little While" is a 1956 popular song with music by Fred Spielman and lyrics by Mack David. The recording by The Ames Brothers was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-6481. It first reached the Billboard mag ...

"), complications of stroke. *February 5 –

, 62, American country singer-songwriter and one of the most successful artists of the 1990s and 2000s (" Red Solo Cup", "

How Do You Like Me Now?! ''How Do You Like Me Now?!'' is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released on November 2, 1999 by DreamWorks Records and was his first album with the label after Keith departed from Mercury Records in 1998. ...

", " Should've Been a Cowboy" and a plethora of other hits), stomach cancer. *February 22 –

Roni Stoneman Veronica Loretta "Roni" Stoneman (born May 5, 1938) is a noted bluegrass banjo player and comedian widely known as a cast member on the country music show ''Hee Haw''. She is the youngest daughter of Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, patriarch of the ...

, 85, bluegrass musician, member of the Stoneman Family, and Hee Haw cast member. *March 31 – Norah Lee Allen, 76, background singer at the

and wife of

Duane Allen Duane David Allen (born April 29, 1943) is an American singer/songwriter who had formal training in both operatic and quartet singing before becoming a member of The Oak Ridge Boys in 1966. Allen is the lead singer for the quartet and is hear ...

. *April 2 –

Jerry Abbott Jerry Bob Abbott (born April 8, 1942) is an American country music songwriter and record producer. He is the father of heavy metal musicians Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, both of Pantera and Damageplan. Biography Jerry Abbott was born in A ...

, 81, American country songwriter and musician. *May 6 – Wayland Holyfield, 82, American songwriter ("

Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me) "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)" by Wayland Holyfield is one of the official state songs of Arkansas. It was written by Holyfield in 1986 for the state's 150th-anniversary celebration and was named an official "state song" by the Arkansas General Ass ...

", "

Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer "Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer" is a song written by Bob McDill and Wayland Holyfield, and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Russell (singer), Johnny Russell. It was released in July 1973 as the first single from his alb ...

", " You're My Best Friend"). *June 8 – Mark James, 83, American songwriter (" Suspicious Minds", " Always on My Mind"). *June 27 – Kinky Friedman, 79, American singer-songwriter and humorist, Parkinson's disease. *July 1 – Rusty Golden, 65, American singer, son of

' William Lee Golden and member of

the Goldens The Goldens was an American country music duo from Brewton, Alabama composed of brothers Rusty and Chris Golden. Rusty and Chris are the sons of The Oak Ridge Boys member William Lee Golden. Before forming The Goldens, Chris was a member of Cedar C ...

. *July 9 – Joe Bonsall, 76, longtime member of

(tenor vocal), complications from

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

. *July 10 – Dave Loggins, 76, pop and country singer ("

Please Come to Boston "Please Come to Boston" is a song that was recorded and written by American singer-songwriter Dave Loggins. It was released in April 1974 as the first single from his album ''Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop)'' and was produced by Jerry Crutchf ...

", "

Nobody Loves Me Like You Do "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" is a song written by James Dunne anPamela Phillips-Oland and originally performed on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' by Dunne himself with series regular Tonya Pinkins. It was later recorded by Jermaine Jack ...

"). *July 20 –

Sandy Posey Sandy Posey (born Sandra Lou Posey, June 18, 1944) is an American popular singer who enjoyed success in the 1960s with singles such as her 1966 recording of Martha Sharp's compositions "Born a Woman" and "Single Girl". She is often described as a ...

, 80, American pop, country and gospel singer, complications from dementia.Sandy Posey, known for iconic 60s hit Born A Woman, dies aged 80
/ref>

References

{{List of years in country music, state=autocollapse

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Country music by year Culture-related timelines by year

Events

Top hits of the year

Singles released by American and Australian artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Top new album releases

Other top albums

Announced

Hall of Fame inductees

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame

Deaths

References