How country music dominated 2024 — and why 2025 will be even bigger

Country music has been growing steadily for the past few years, but in 2024, the genre has soared to heights unimaginable less than a decade ago.

Once upon a time, music lovers often said that they listened to “everything but country music,” but how Laney Wilson sang in it the first single of the yearthe country is cool again. Artists like it Beyonce and Post Malone released full-fledged country albums, Shabuzi was the biggest hit of the year, and Stagecoach sold out for the first time before Coachella. Twistersone of the biggest blockbusters of 2024, had a nationwide soundtrack with songs like Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhettwhile pop stars including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Sabrina Carpenter incorporated country sounds into their music (see “Die With a Smile” and “Slim Pickins”).

Even the hottest gossip of the year a country star was involved: Zach Bryanwhose dirty split from Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia inspired founder of Barstool Sports Dave Portnoy to record some diss tracks about the “Something in the Orange” singer.

All this is a dramatic turn of events of the past year, which had no less prominence Dolly Parton releasing a rock album as artists love Maren Morris publicly distanced themselves from the main country amid political disputes. So how exactly did we get here?

First, strict genre definitions are crumbling in all directions, thanks in part to the way people listen to music now. Let’s say you hear Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” on a pop radio station and then decide to search for it on Spotify – your algorithm now thinks you’re a country fan and will start recommending artists and tracks in the same vein as your Shaboozey fans . Maybe you’ve never considered yourself a country fan before because you’ve never heard anything, but streaming really lowers the barrier to entry.

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“I think that’s what I had in the back of my mind, that the fans really cared about the genres, and then zooming out and just talking to the fans, (I realized) they literally don’t care.” Tierra Kennedywhich appeared on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this year. “I was playing a show and I ran into a fan and she said, ‘I don’t care if you have a record deal or not, I don’t care if it’s country or not. I love the music and that’s all that matters.” … It’s just a matter of good music and whether it meets you at the moment.”

That was certainly the case with Shaboozey, whose breakthrough single tied the record for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100. It should be noted that the song he linked with Lil Nas XRemix “Old Town Road” from Billy Ray Cyrusanother track that challenged conventional genres and mixed hip-hop and country for something new.

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Unlike Lil Nas X, Shaboozey (who also appeared on Cowboy Carter) made an entire album that leans country but still has elements of rap and pop as well as Americana. At the 2025 Grammyshe’s nominated for both Best Country Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance — and he has no plans to stay in one lane in the future.

“It would be cool for people to just see the man, the versatility and the taste,” he said People in June. “I want people to look at it and listen to it and think, ‘Man, what was he inspired by when he made this stuff?’

Post Malone and Morgan Wallen“I Had Some Help” was another major hit of the year, debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and paving the way for Malone’s success. F-1 trillionwhich was released in August and collaborated with such luminaries of the country as Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton and Jelly roll. His hot streak continued in December when he joined Beyonce to make her iconic Cowboy Carter halftime show on Christmas Day, singing their duet of “Levii’s Jeans” to an impressive 27 million viewers (almost 3 million more than the actual games average).

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For now Cowboy Carter was noticeably snubbed at the 2024 CMA Awards, Beyoncé’s impact on the genre this year cannot be overstated. The album debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums Charts, making Beyoncé the first black woman to top the latter since its inception in 1964. It also received a nomination for Best Country Album at the 2025 Grammys, along with Malone and country stalwarts Stapleton, Wilson and Kacey Musgravesthe latter of which returned to her Texas roots on this year’s folk-tinged A deep well.

This year is coming to an end, but there is a good chance that the country will be even bigger in 2025. On Christmas Day, Beyoncé revealed that she plans to announce something on January 14, Lana Del Rey teased that her next album, now titled The right person will staywill be country and Malone will headline it Big Ass Stadium Tour with Jelly Roll and Sierra Ferrell. Superstars including Wilson, Rhett, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton and Kelsey Ballerini all are planning spring and summer tours, as are young artists Megan Maroney and Tanner Adele. The future looks bright — and it’s wearing cowboy boots.