Music

Underwood stormed onto the country scene after being becoming the 2005 American Idol champion. In April 2021, she earned her ninth No. 1 on Top Country Albums with My Savior, extending her record for the most career-opening leaders on the list. On Hot Country Songs, she has banked 14 No. 1s, beginning with “Jesus, Take the Wheel” for six weeks in January 2006. She boasts the most leaders on each chart among women in the first quarter of the 21st century.

“I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do,” Underwood – now an American Idol judge, following the release of her most recent album, Denim & Rhinestones, in 2022 – told Billboard in 2018. “I am incredibly grateful for the support of fans around the world that make it all possible.”

Shelton’s rookie single, “Austin,” rolled up five frames atop Hot Country Songs in August 2001. The longest-tenured coach in the history of NBC’s The Voice (23 seasons) has notched 14 Hot Country Songs chart-toppers. From Ada, Okla., Shelton, who married Gwen Stefani in 2021, has also posted seven No. 1s on Top Country Albums. He signed to the BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville in September 2024 and released his latest album, For Recreational Use Only, May 9.

Aldean has earned 10 Hot Country Songs No. 1s, from “Why” in 2006 to “Try That in a Small Town” in 2023. The latter also topped the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, boosted by scrutiny surrounding its official video. On Top Country Albums, he has collected seven No. 1s.

The Asheville, N.C., native has banked four Top Country Albums No. 1s and six Hot Country Songs leaders dating to his first on each chart in 2017. He also rattled off a record 14 consecutive career-opening chart-topping singles on Country Airplay. Among his leaders on both songs surveys: In 2023, his cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 classic “Fast Car.”

Combs told Billboard following the song’s coronation – and ahead of his and Chapman’s well-received performance at the Grammy Awards in February 2024 – “It has been so cool to see everyone enjoying this song over the past few months, whether it was people who were hearing the song for the first time or people [for whom] it brought back memories of Tracy’s timeless recording. I’m just glad this song got another life, because it deserves to be around forever. It will always be one of my favorites.”

The trio has achieved 12 chart-toppers on Hot Country Songs after it hit the ground running with its 2000 rookie hit, “Prayin’ for Daylight” (No. 3 peak). The sum marks the most No. 1s among duos or groups in the first quarter of the 21st century. On Top Country Albums, the band – Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney – has earned eight No. 1s, also best among duos or groups since 2000. Following a hiatus that began in 2020, the group is back together and will appear at CMA Fest in Nashville in June.

Urban has tallied 16 No. 1s on Hot Country Songs, starting in 2001 with “But for the Grace of God” (which he wrote with Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s). His latest LP, High, debuted at its No. 10 Top Country Albums best in October 2024, becoming his 11th top 10, a haul that includes seven No. 1s. Married to actress Nicole Kidman since 2006, he also served as a judge on American Idol for four seasons (2013-16).

The Oklahoman passed away in February 2024 after more than 30 years as a genre cornerstone, starting with his 1993 debut smash “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” He achieved 17 of his 20 Hot Country Songs No. 1s and all 10 of his Top Country Albums leaders from 2000 on. Keith, who left a musical legacy of warm ballads and defiant patriotic anthems, was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Oct. 20, 2024.

Now a pop — and pop culture — superstar, Swift broke through as a country artist on Big Machine Records in 2006, signed following a performance at the legendary Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Her freshman single, “Tim McGraw,” reached No. 6 on Hot Country Songs in January 2007, while “Our Song” became her first of nine No. 1s that December. After her mid-2010s shift to pop, Swift revisited her rootsy roots, delving back into more organic sounds. In 2021, her rerecorded “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” became her first of two No. 1 entrances on Hot Country Songs, while 2023’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) launched as her eighth and most recent Top Country Albums leader.

“This is my first time having a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and I’m so grateful to the fans for making this a possibility,” Swift told Billboard about the reception for the update of “Love Story” (which originally led the list in 2008). “They’re the ones who emboldened me to reclaim my music and they really showed up this week to see it through. It blows me away that they’ve sent a song to No. 1 that had its first life over a decade ago. I couldn’t be happier that it happened now, and in this way.”

Not just the title subject of Taylor Swift’s first hit, McGraw is, of course, a genre icon. From Delhi, La., he has rung up 26 Hot Country Songs chart-toppers, including 16 since 2000. Married to fellow country star Faith Hill since 1996, he has logged 13 of his 17 No. 1s on Top Country Albums since Y2K, most recently Standing Room Only in 2020.

It makes a lot of sense that Chesney’s first of the stadium shows that he’s headlined through the years was in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., for a sold-out crowd at Neyland Stadium on June 7, 2003. Since then, the singer-songwriter has held court at well over 100 stadiums, delivering performances to his throngs of followers dubbed No Shoes Nation. As the story goes, that moniker started in 2012 during a concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., and derives from his 2003 hit “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem.”

Chesney signed with BNA Records, which became part of Sony Music Nashville in 1995. He remained there until signing to Warner Music Nashville in 2018. Since 2000, Chesney has collected 20 Hot Country Songs No. 1s and 17 leaders on Top Country Albums. He also topped the all-genre Billboard 200 nine times. On Billboard’s Country Airplay survey, Chesney has posted 30 chart-toppers since 2000, the most among all acts (of his record 33 dating to the chart’s 1990 inception).

When Chesney notched his 30th Country Airplay No. 1, “Take Her Home,” in June 2024, with a nod to his fans he told Billboard, “It’s amazing how slices of the way life turns and the chances you take always hit people where they live. Any time I can hold a mirror up and reflect No Shoes Nation, it’s winning … and this feels like all the people who love these songs are winning, too.”