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This article is about the genre of popular music from the United States and Canada. For other music genres that are sometimes described as country music, see
Country music, the first half of 's country and western music category, is a blend of popular forms originally found in the .

It has roots in traditional , , , , , and and evolved rapidly in the 1920s. The term country music began to be used in the 1940s when the earlier term music was deemed to be degrading, and the term was widely embraced in the 1970s, while country and western has declined in use since that time.
Country music has produced two of the top selling solo artists of all time.

, “The Hillbilly Cat”, appeared on the Louisiana Hayride for three years, went on help define rock ‘n’ roll, and became known as “The King.” , except for a short foray into non-country near the end of his recording career, recorded and performed country music and is the other top selling solo artist.
Many songs have been adapted to different country music styles.

One example is the tune "Milk Cow Blues," an early blues tune by that has been performed in a wide variety of country styles by many artists including , , , , and .
Columbia Records began issuing records with "hillbilly" music (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") as early as 1924. was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit in May of that same year with "The Wreck of Old '97".

Other important early recording artists were , , , , and The Skillet Lickers. The steel guitar entered country music as early as 1922, when Jimmie Tarlton met famed Hawaiian guitarist Frank Ferera on the West Coast.
The origins of modern country music can be traced to two seminal influences and a remarkable coincidence.

and the are widely considered to be the founders of country music, and their songs were first captured at a in / on , , where was the talent scout and sound recordist.
' gift to country music was . Building on the traditional ballads and musical influences of the South, Rodgers wrote and sang songs that ordinary people could relate to.

He took the experiences of his own life in the , area and those of the people he met on the railroad, in bars and on the streets to create his lyrics. He used the musical influences of the traditional ballads and the to create his tunes. Since 1953, Meridian's Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival has been held annually during May to honor the anniversary of Rodgers' death.

The first festival was on , .
Pathos, humour, women, whiskey, murder, death, disease and destitution are all present in his lyrics and these themes have been carried forward and developed by his followers. People like , , , , , , and have also suffered, and shared their suffering, bringing added dimensions to those themes.

It would be fair to say that Jimmie Rodgers sang about life and death from a male perspective, and this viewpoint has dominated some areas of country music. It would also be fair to credit his influence for the development of , and the .
Jimmie Rodgers is a major foundation stone in the structure of country music, but the most influential artist from the Jimmie Rodgers strand is undoubtedly In his short career (he was only 29 when he died), he dominated the country scene and his songs have been covered by practically every other country artist, male and female.

Indeed, his songs were covered by , , and performers from early in his career. Songs like " " and " " have long been .
Williams had two personas: as Hank Williams he was a and entertainer; as , he was a songwriting crusader.

The complexity of his character was reflected in the introspective songs he wrote about heartbreak, happiness and love (such as "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "Your Cheating Heart"), and the more upbeat numbers about life (" ") or (" "). He took the music to a different level and a wider audience.
Country artists have included Williams in their compositions.

pondered whether his career matched up with Hank's in "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and Hank Williams Jr. recounts the uproarious conditions in his and his father's bands in "A Family Tradition". boasts in "Longhaired Redneck", "I can sing you every song Hank Williams ever wrote".

Both and his son have been innovators within country music as well, Hank Jr. leading towards rock fusion and " ", and Hank III going much further in reaching out to and soul.
The other Ralph Peer discovery, the Carter family, consisted of A.

P. Carter, his wife Sara and their sister-in-law Maybelle. They built a long recording career based on the sonorous bass of A.

P., the beautiful singing of Sara and the unique guitar playing of Maybelle. A.

P.'s main contribution was the collection of songs and ballads that he picked up in his expeditions into the hill country around their home in . In addition, being a man, he made it possible for Sara and Maybelle to perform without stigma at that time.

Sara and Maybelle arranged the songs that A.P. collected and wrote their own songs.

They were the precursors of a line of talented female country singers like , , , , , and , the daughter of Maybelle and the wife of .
During the 1960s, country music became a multimillion-dollar industry centered on , . Under the direction of producers such as , , and later , the brought country music to a diverse audience.

This sound was notable for borrowing from 1950s pop stylings: a prominent and 'smooth' vocal, backed by a string section and vocal chorus. Instrumental soloing was de-emphasised in favor of trademark 'licks'. Leading artists in this genre included , , and later and .

Although country music has great stylistic diversity, some critics say this diversity was strangled by the formulaic approach of the Nashville Sound producers. Others point to the commercial need to re-invent country in the face of the dominance of '50s and subsequent . Even today the variety of country music is not usually well reflected in commercial radio airplay and the popular perception of country music is fraught with of and maudlin ballads.

The supposedly "vanilla"-flavored sounds that emanated from Nashville led to a reaction among musicians outside Nashville, who saw that there was more to the genre than "the same old tunes, fiddle and guitar...

" (Waylon Jennings). ^{[ ]}
" After I left Nashville (the early 70s), I wanted to relax and play the music that I wanted to play, and just stay around Texas, maybe Oklahoma. Waylon and I had that outlaw image going, and when it caught on at colleges and we started selling records, we were O.

K. The whole outlaw thing - it had nothing to do with the music, it was something that got written in an article, and the young people said, "Well, that's pretty cool." And started listening.

" (Willie Nelson)
helped lead a revival of the Bakersfield Sound in the 1980s and incorporates it in much of his music today.
Within Nashville in the 1980s, , and others brought a return to the traditional values. Their musicianship, songwriting and producing skills helped to revive the genre momentarily.

However, even they, and such long-time greats as Jones, Cash, and Haggard, fell from popularity as the record companies again imposed their formulas and refused to promote established artists. made an almost wholesale clearance of their country artists in the 1960s.
The two strands of country music have continued to develop since 1990s.

The Jimmie Rodgers influence can be seen in a pronounced "working man" image promoted by singers like and . On the Carter Family side, singers like and have written on more traditional "folk" themes, albeit with a contemporary point of view.
In the mid 1990s country western music was influenced by the popularity of .

This influence was so great that was quoted as saying "The music has gotten pretty bad, I think. It's all that damn line dancing." By the end of the decade, however, at least one line dance choreographer complained that good country line dance music was no longer being released.

In the 1990s a new form of country music emerged, called by some , , or "insurgent country". Performed by generally younger musicians and inspired by traditional country performers and the country reactionaries, it shunned the Nashville-dominated sound of mainstream country and borrowed more from and groups than the watered-down, pop-oriented sound of Nashville.
One infrequent, but consistent theme in country music is that of proud, stubborn independence.

"Country Boy Can Survive", and "Copperhead Road" are two of the more serious songs along those lines; while "Some Girls Do", and "Redneck Woman" are more light hearted variations on the theme.
There are at least three U.S.

cable networks devoted to the genre: (owned by ), (also owned by ), and (owned by ).
Below is a list of notable country performers alphabetically by period, with each listing followed by a description of the artists' work.

recorded hundreds of songs until 1931.

, first country superstar, the "Father of Country Music".

, rural country-folk, known for hits like "Wildwood Flower".

Grand Ole Opry star for 50 years, "King of Country Music".

, the first female Country singer to sell 1 million records.

, one of the first Country music duo groups.

Beloved Texas troubadour who helped scores become stars.

Canadian-born Grand Ole Opry star famous for his traveling songs.

, pioneer, singer, and songwriter, known for hits like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Your Cheatin' Heart" and " ".

, one of the oldest radio programs.

4-foot 11 inch star of the Grand Ole Opry.

, the "yodeling" cowboy, aka .

, one of Country's leading female vocalists in the 1950s.

, classic honky-tonker who dominated '50s country music.

, country's first female superstar, called the .

^ Peterson, Richard A.

(1999). Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity, p.9.

Keywords: Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers, Grand Ole, Grand Ole Opry, Ole Opry, Hank Williams, i Could Cry, Life September, So Lonesome i, Could Cry

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