We can now reveal the Top 10 list of the Country music artists we feel hold the most power in the genre right now! 2023 has been a great year for some artists as they build their popularity and careers whilst others try to maintain previous gains.
The list is obviously subjective and based on no scientific evidence whatsoever. It’s a bit of fun at the end of the year speculating which artists are currently the most powerful in the industry. Criteria for this decision rests on ticket sales, album & single success, social media power and industry buzz. It’s as nebulous as the CMA ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award but we enjoyed the process of putting it together.
10. Kelsea Ballerini
Using personal turbulence and relationship angst via her divorce from Morgan Evans to fuel her creativity Kelsea had an incredibly powerful year that finished with her ‘Rolling Up the Welcome Mat’ project being nominated for a Grammy. International tours, concept videos, a new celebrity relationship and big interviews have propelled Ballerini back onto a list that she has been missing from for a few years now. 2024 could be a huge year for her.
9. Kane Brown
Kane continues to do things quietly and in his own way but still makes waves of tidal proportions throughout social media and the music industry. Focusing less on collaborations this year and more on just straight-down-the-line Country music he’s continued to tour, stretching his sights internationally, in 2023. Headlining the prestigious C2C festival next March in London only raises his profile and having a number one with his wife also serves to increases his Country music power points! An amazingly strong social media presence and loyal fan base gives Kane amazing foundations with which to make 2024 another big year.
8. Chris Stapleton
With new album, ‘Higher’ freshly released and a year of touring on both sides of the Atlantic ahead of him, 2024 will be Stapleton’s year. He’s been on this list every year for a few years now and it’s safe to say that his dominance in the C2C ‘Male Vocalist of the Year’ award elevates him above so many of his peers. Stapleton can do whatever and as much or as little as Stapleton wants and that’s pure power!
7. Ashley McBryde
Her ‘Lindeville’ album got nominated for a CMA and Ashley then went and released the very powerful ‘The Devil I Know’ album in the final quarter of 2023 off the back of it. The loyal ‘McBryde Tribe’ have her back online and the industry loves her down-to-earth, say-it-like-it-is persona too. A relentless touring performer on both sides of the Atlantic, her ticket sales and venue sizes will continue to rise in 2024 as she puts herself into that rare space of being both a fan favourite and industry darling.
6. Cody Johnson
The Texan cowboy who lives life exactly in the same way that he sings about. An authentic presence in Country music, Johnson has seen his stock rocket in the aftermath of his huge ”Til You Can’t’ hit. Tours have got bigger and tickets are flying too as Johnson cements his position as one of the most sought after performers on the circuit. New album, ‘Leather’ will be there or thereabouts on most people’s Top 10s or Top 5’s of the year and other artists are clamouring to work or tour with him too. A riser, for sure!
5. Zach Bryan
A phenomena, pure and simple. Bryan’s loyal social media following have his back in the same way that Taylor Swift’s have hers as he takes his brand of Oklahoma soul around the world. The Ed Sheeran of Country / Folk / Americana songwriter vibes, his music is hard to pigeonhole but you’ll find it on ‘Yellowstone’, in the cars of Baby Boomers and on the phones of Gen Z too. That kind of cross-genre, multi-generational fan base is a hard one to get and Bryan, without the backing of the music industry in its traditional form, has gone and done it over the past couple of years.
4. Luke Combs
Another strong year for this former number 1. Two albums in two years, international tours and award accolades mean that Combs is still a force to be reckoned with. He’s not moved down the list because of anything he’s done, it’s because other artists have muscled him out of the way. His tours still sell like hotcakes and other artists want his voice on their tracks too. 2024 promises to be a quieter year for Combs as he recuperates from two years of madness and has a little time to acclimatise to now being a dad of 2!
3. Lainey Wilson
What can you say about Lainey’s meteoric rise this year? The now CMA ‘Entertainer of the Year’ guest starred in ‘Yellowstone’, toured the world and released one of the strongest albums of the year in ‘Bell Bottom Country.’ She’ll go from strength to strength in 2024 and we think there will be another album by the end of next year too. Beloved by fans and the industry alike she’s a real unicorn in what she’s achieved this year and it’s been throughly well deserved too.
2. Jelly Roll
If we’re talking unicorns, here’s the other one from 2023. Currently sitting at number one in the charts with ‘Save Me’ (featuring Lainey Wilson!) Jelly Roll has been the heads to Lainey’s tales this year. Two sides of the same phenomenal rise. Everyone wants him on their duets and fans can’t get enough of a humble persona that’s full of wisdom and gratitude. Jelly Roll has been a breath of fresh air in the Country music industry this year and his redemption story and gregarious personality has warmed the hearts of all who have come into contact with him.
1.Morgan Wallen
We mentioned redemption stories with Jelly Roll above and, as we come to the end of 2023, it’s clear that Morgan Wallen’s is now complete too. A hardcore fan base would say that there’s still some lingering fall out or distrust from certain sections of the industry but Wallen’s ticket sales, streaming numbers (the figures for ‘Last Night’ are insane) and pure commercial, cross-genre power put him fair-and-sqaure at number one on this list. There’s no-one capable of doing what he’s doing in the industry right now.
