2026 in country music

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This is a list of notable events in country music that have, or will take place in 2026.

Events

• January 13 – "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton becomes the first country song in history to be double diamond certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
• January 14 – Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association announces that she will retire at the end of 2026 after twelve years in the role.
• January 16 – Suzy Bogguss is inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Reba McEntire, who was also celebrating her 40th anniversary as an Opry member that night. Bogguss was invited on October 11, 2025 by Kathy Mattea, Terri Clark, and Trisha Yearwood.
• January 17 – Blake Shelton scores his 30th number one single on the Billboard Country Airplay chart with "Stay Country or Die Tryin'", placing him second to Kenny Chesney's 33 for the most number one singles on that chart since its inception in 1990.
• January 24 – Paul Brandt makes a post on X using lyrics from his 2005 single "Alberta Bound" that leads to a controversy, with some viewing it as an endorsement of the Alberta separatism movement
• February 9 – "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley becomes the first song by a female artist (and the fourth song overall) to reach number one on the Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, and all-genre Billboard Hot 100 charts simultaneously.
• March 2 – Megan Moroney and Ella Langley make history as the first pair of women in country music to top the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 simultaneously. Langley's "Choosin' Texas" spent a second week at number one on the Hot 100, while Moroney's Cloud 9 debuted in the top spot on the albums chart.
• March 10 – Jelly Roll is inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Lainey Wilson. He was invited by Craig Morgan on December 10, 2025.
• March 23 – "Choosin' Texas" becomes the first song by a female artist that topped the Hot Country Songs chart to also spend four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
• April 11 – Justin Moore's "Time's Ticking" reaches number one on the Country Airplay chart in its 67th chart week, setting a new record for the slowest ascent to the top of that chart.
• April 24–26 – The 2026 edition of Stagecoach Festival takes place at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, featuring headline performances from Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, and Post Malone.
• April 26 – Maddie & Tae play their final show together. The duo announced their plans to split in December 2025, citing Taylor Kerr's wish to spend more time with her family. Maddie Font will continue on as a solo artist.
• May 9 - Chase Matthew's bassist, Carsen Richards, was arrested after a concert. He was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old autistic child.

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 2026:

See also: List of Billboard number-one country songs of 2026

Singles released by American and Australian artists

Songs	Airplay	Canada	Single	Artist	References
2	1	5	"20 Cigarettes"	Morgan Wallen
8	2	1	"6 Months Later"	Megan Moroney
14	2	3	"Ain't a Bad Life"	Thomas Rhett featuring Jordan Davis
6	1	2	"Amen"	Shaboozey and Jelly Roll
2	12	25	"Be By You"	Luke Combs
2	1	1	"Be Her"	Ella Langley
8	9	7	"Beautiful Things"	Megan Moroney
7	6	1	"Better Me for You (Brown Eyes)"	Max McNown
—	—	19	"Betty"	Carter Faith
4	26	34	"Boston"	Stella Lefty
4	—	—	"Bottom of Your Boots"	Ella Langley
9	1	2	"Brunette"	Tucker Wetmore
31	20	—	"Carry On"	Kenny Chesney
6	2	2	"Change My Mind"	Riley Green
32	14	37	"Chevy Silverado"	Bailey Zimmerman
1	1	1	"Choosin' Texas"	Ella Langley
44	17	40	"Country and She Knows It"	Luke Bryan
7	—	31	"Dandelion"	Ella Langley
9	2	1	"Days Like These"	Luke Combs
14	6	27	"Don't Tell on Me"	Jason Aldean
10	7	22	"Don't We"	Morgan Wallen
20	11	31	"Ends of the Earth"	Ty Myers
7	1	38	"The Fall"	Cody Johnson
14	1	2	"Favorite Country Song"	Hardy
10	6	36	"House Again"	Hudson Westbrook
12	1	18	"How Far Does a Goodbye Go"	Jason Aldean
3	13	14	"I Ain't Comin' Back"	Morgan Wallen featuring Post Malone
3	10	12	"I Can't Love You Anymore"	Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen
31	13	44	"I Dare You"	Rascal Flatts and Jonas Brothers
20	3	31	"It Won't Be Long"	George Birge
—	16	46	"Kid Myself"	John Morgan
5	—	—	"Loving Life Again"	Ella Langley
—	22	13	"Making Good Time"	Old Dominion
6	19	35	"McArthur"	Hardy featuring Eric Church, Tim McGraw and Morgan Wallen
36	11	51	"Me & a Beer"	Chris Janson
2	—	—	"Plastic Cigarette"	Zach Bryan
48	15	16	"Ride, Ride, Ride"	George Birge featuring Luke Bryan
25	10	21	"Rocky Mountain Low"	Corey Kent and Koe Wetzel
7	—	53	"Say Why"	Zach Bryan
2	1	1	"Sleepless in a Hotel Room"	Luke Combs
30	17	38	"A Song to Sing"	Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton
27	18	26	"South of Sanity"	Zach Top
22	1	4	"Stay Country or Die Tryin'"	Blake Shelton
17	1	2	"Time's Ticking"	Justin Moore
2	40	—	"Travelin' Soldier"	Cody Johnson
11	2	1	"Turn This Truck Around"	Jordan Davis
16	2	8	"What He'll Never Have"	Dylan Scott
41	16	29	"Wish You Well"	Vincent Mason
19	13	10	"Woman"	Kane Brown

Singles released by Canadian artists

Songs	Airplay	Canada	Single	Artist	References
—	—	11	"A Man Without a Woman"	Dean Brody
—	—	7	"Drink Around"
—	17	10	"Golden Child"	Meghan Patrick
—	—	6	"Going Somewhere"	Tim Hicks
15	3	1	"Hate How You Look"	Josh Ross
—	—	6	"Hometown Heroes"	The Reklaws and Dean Brody
—	—	9	"Hurtin' Songs"	Brett Kissel and Dierks Bentley
—	—	7	"I'm Leavin' You"	High Valley
—	—	8	"Just Being Me"	Morgan Griffiths
—	—	18	"Love Hate Love"	Owen Riegling
—	—	7	"Nobody Roads"	Josh Stumpf
—	—	14	"Put It on Me"	Sully Burrows
—	—	6	"Scared of Getting Sober"	Josh Ross
—	—	9	"Safe Place to Break"	Meghan Patrick
—	—	18	"Shooting Star"	Sacha and Restless Road
—	—	2	"Somebody I Know"	James Barker Band
—	—	4	"Something Else"	Brock Phillips
—	—	8	"Taillight This Town"	Owen Riegling
—	—	9	"Thought About You"	Nate Haller
—	—	17	"Under the Influence"	Tyler Joe Miller

Top new album releases

See also: List of Top Country Albums number ones of 2026

See also: List of UK Country Albums Chart number ones of 2026

US	Album	Artist	Record label	Release date	Reference
1	With Heaven on Top	Zach Bryan	Belting Bronco/Warner	January 9
1	Cloud 9	Megan Moroney	Sony/Columbia	February 20
1	The Way I Am	Luke Combs	Columbia Nashville	March 20
1	Dandelion	Ella Langley	Columbia Nashville	April 10
6	Songs About Us	Jason Aldean	Broken Bow	April 24
2	Middle of Nowhere	Kacey Musgraves	Lost Highway	May 1
9	Is This Heaven? (EP)	Stella Lefty	Sandlot/Atlantic	May 15

Other top albums

US	Album	Artist	Record label	Release date	Reference
35	Heavy on the Soul	Ty Myers	RECORDS	March 27
12	Broken View	Sam Barber	Atlantic Outpost	April 3
46	Age of the Ram	Charley Crockett	Lone Star Rider / Island	April 3
	Deep Water	Cameron Whitcomb	Atlantic	April 17
	In the Feeling	Owen Riegling	Universal Canada / Big Loud	April 17
	Deep Blue	Ernest	Big Loud	May 1
	Wild	Ashley McBryde	Warner Music Nashville	May 8
	Going Somewhere	Tim Hicks	Open Road	May 22
	True South	Rodney Atkins	Curb Records	May 29
	Dream Chaser	Willie Nelson	Legacy Recordings
	Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes	Don Williams	Craft Recordings

Upcoming

Album	Artist	Record label	Release date	Reference
Flow State	Keith Urban	MCA Records	June 12
Banks of the Trinity	Cody Johnson	Warner Music Nashville	June 26
The Tenth Album (Side A)	Dean Brody	Starseed
Bonfire	The Shires	BMG	July 3
Dustpiles	Waylon Wyatt	Music Soup/Darkroom	July 17
Sins of the Father	Brantley Gilbert	Blue Highway	July 24
Little Miss Twain	Shania Twain	Republic Nashville
The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales	Shaboozey	American Dogwood/Empire	July 31
Ashley Cooke	Ashley Cooke	Big Loud	August 14
Young	Dan + Shay	Warner Nashville	August 21
Stages	Lauren Alaina		August 28
Signs	Luke Bryan	Mercury Nashville	September 18
That's Just Me	Riley Green	Nashville Harbor
Heartland Rock and Roll	Corey Kent	Sony Music Nashville	September 25
Sunriser	Lee Brice	Curb Records	October 2
Ain't That Bad	Matt Lang	Independent	October 23

Hall of Fame inductees

Country Music Hall of Fame

(announced on March 20, 2026)

• Tim McGraw
• Paul Overstreet
• The Stanley Brothers

Deaths

• January 6 – Jim McBride, 78, American songwriter ("Chattahoochee")
• January 19 – Billy Parker, 88, American country music singer and DJ.
• February 11 – Jerry Kennedy, 85, American record producer
• February 16 – Brett Jones, 69, American songwriter ("A Little Past Little Rock", "That's How Country Boys Roll", "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away")
• March 22 – Ronnie Bowman, 64, American bluegrass guitarist and singer-songwriter
• April 16 – Don Schlitz, 73, American songwriter (“The Gambler”, “When You Say Nothing at All”, “Forever and Ever, Amen”)
• April 29 – David Allan Coe, 86, American singer-songwriter and outlaw country legend ("You Never Even Called Me by My Name", "Longhaired Redneck", "The Ride")