Who were the best country music artists of the 1980s?
I’ll nominate Alabama, Waylon Jennings, and Eddie Rabbitt.
Emmylou Harris!
Randy Travis, George Strait, the Judds.
Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, and Clint Black, AKA the “the Class of '89,” all had their first hits in 1989, so they count.
This thread basically begins and ends with George Strait.
“Best Country of the 90’s” = Strait
“Best Country of the 00’s” = Strait
“Troubadour” is one of the best country albums of the past 20 years in and of itself.
Waylon Jennings
Willie Nelson
George Strait
Patty Loveless
Dwight Yoakam
Lyle Lovett
Alison Krause and Union Station (first performed in 1989, when she was 18).
Seconded. How does he do it? His ability to maintain such a level of success over such a long time (30 years this year) is mind-blowing.
I’ve always put it this way:
Hank Williams invented it.
George Jones defined it.
George Strait embodies it.
But add George Jones to the ‘80s list, too. “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, which revitalized and redefined Jones’ career, was released in 1980, and he had a good number of hits after that.
Dwight Yoakam, bar none.
The Judds, Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, and an honorable mention for Chris Ledoux.
I think all the chart toppers have been listed, but the question was who were the BEST, if you can stray from the mainstream, I would add:
Lone Justice–Maria McKee is the re-incarnation of Patsy Cline.
Jason and the Scorchers–A lot of energy applied to classic country.
SSG Schwartz
Are they still around? I saw them open for U2 in 1985.
I can’t remember when Lone Justice broke up, but Maria McKee put out an album as recent as 2007.
SSG Schwartz
I’d like to add John Anderson to the list along withRonnie Milsap.
I think Twitty, Parton, and Hank Jr. also realized their legacy in the 80’s.
Didn’t that sexy lass, Sheena easton also dabble in Country in the 80’s… Laura Branigan the hottest, too?
Most of what I would say has been mentioned, but I also liked Restless Heart. I’m not sure when Shenandoah started, but they were pretty good too. George Strait started the 80’s. Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis kept it going. Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and Travis Tritt rounded it out nicely.
I’d say George Strait is my favorite.
Kenny Rogers was one of the most successful country singers in the 80’s.
Chris LeDoux deserves more mention than he’s gotten.
He was around in the 80’s but I don’t think he became well known until Garth Brooks got famous.
2nd Randy Travis. I was born in 1983 and my earliest memories involve me running around my grandparents’ living room singing ‘‘Diggin’ Up Bones.’’
George Strait goes without saying. I don’t know how he does it.
Steve Earle needs to be mentioned…
If you bring up Steve Earle, you gotta make reference to what his biggest beef with country music at that time was - he felt that it was getting away from the “classic” country of George Strait, Waylon Jennings, etc and was devolving into a style of pop music that was more “show” than art. Alabama was one of the biggest country bands when Earle first started recording - try to find something similar between any of their mid-80s releases and Earle’s “Exit 0” or “Copperhead Road”.
And he had no love of Shania Twain after she made it big. He called her “Nashville’s highest paid lap-dancer.”