A musician since receiving his first guitar at age eight, Brad Paisley emerged in the late nineties and became the most consistently successful radio artist in the decade that followed.

Paisley’s career began in earnest when he penned his first song at age twelve, “Born On Christmas Day.”  His junior high principal invited him to perform at a local function. He was spotted by a representative of Jamboree USA, and after one performance, he was invited to join the cast.

Over the next eight years, Paisley performed in West Virginia, opening up for major country acts when they visited the area.  After completing a two year stint at Belmont University in Nashville, he was immediately signed to a publishing deal with EMI.   After penning hits for David Kersh and David Ball, he signed with Arista Records.

His debut album, Who Needs Pictures, featured two top #1 hits.  The first one, “He Didn’t Have to Be”, began a string of award show nominations that continues through this day.   As the 2000s progressed, he reaped awards for his collaborations with Alison Krauss, Keith Urban, Dolly Parton, Little Jimmy Dickens, and George Jones.

Paisley was the first male artist since Earl Thomas Conley to score ten consecutive #1 hits on the Billboard charts.  His innovative videos incorporated appearances from Hollywood television stars, often satirizing their own public images to humorous effect.  At the peak of his popularity, Paisley showcased his Grammy-winning instrumental skills. With Play, he became the first mainstream country artist since Steve Wariner to release a largely instrumental album.

Now a touring powerhouse, Paisley collected his first Entertainer trophy from the CMA in 2010, joining shelves full of awards for Male Vocalist, Single, Album, Music Video, and Musical Event from all three major industry organizations.  Most recently, he has scored #1 hits collaborating with Alabama and then Carrie Underwood. The latter collaboration, “Remind Me”, became his fourth platinum-selling digital single, following “Whiskey Lullaby”, “She’s Everything”,  and “Then.”

Essential Singles:

• He Didn’t Have to Be, 1999
• I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song), 2002
• Whiskey Lullaby (with Alison Krauss), 2004
• When I Get Where I’m Going (with Dolly Parton), 2005
• Letter to Me, 2007
• Waitin’ On a Woman, 2008

Essential Albums:

• Mud On the Tires, 2003
• Time Well Wasted, 2005
• 5th Gear, 2007
• American Saturday Night, 2009

Next: ?

Previous: #79. Hank Locklin

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #175-#151

#175
I Wish I Could Have Been There
John Anderson
1994 | Peak: #4

Listen

This is the country equivalent to “Cats in the Cradle”, but more tender and less selfish. – Leeann Ward

#174
Sometimes She Forgets
Travis Tritt
1995 | Peak: #7

Listen

Tritt gives a surprisingly but fittingly subdued performance on this cover of a Steve Earle song, telling the story of a woman who sometimes forgets that she’s sworn off men. I can never get enough of the incredibly cool arrangement. – Tara Seetharam

#173
Forget About It
Alison Krauss
1999 | Peak: #67

Listen

A realistic, messy goodbye, as Krauss’ words tell her old flame to just “forget about it” while her pained whisper mourns that the situation has come to such a point. She’s waking coolly out the door now, but knows it won’t be long before the recent past becomes memories that haunt the both of them. – Dan Milliken

#172
Believe Me Baby (I Lied)
Trisha Yearwood
1996 | Peak: #1

Listen

Kim Richey co-wrote this bright pop-country hit that recalls the very best of sixties pop. Check out how Yearwood lets the chorus revel in Wall of Sound goodness while she saves her trademark wail for the verses. Any man who could turn her down after that “If there’s any way…” is stronger than most. – KC

#171
Love Can Build a Bridge
The Judds
1990 | Peak: #5

Listen

“Love Can Build a Bridge” may be a record that’s historically and musically stamped by its artists, but the lyrics are potent enough to stand on their own, built on a beautifully-written fundamental truth: “I would whisper love so loudly, every heart could understand/That love and only love can join the tribes of man.” – TS

#170
Dance With the One That Brought You
Shania Twain
1993 | Peak: #55

Listen

A wise piece of motherly advice set to a dazzling waltz. Very few contemporary country artists can sound as earnest singing timeless gems like this one as they do on wall-shaking pop-country hits. – TS

#169
I Got it Honest
Aaron Tippin
1994 | Peak: #15

Listen

As Tippin fiercely growls his principled convictions, it sounds like the final gasp of country music’s long-standing solidarity with the working class.  Thanks to Tippin, it went down fighting. – KC

#168
I’d Love You All Over Again
Alan Jackson
1991 | Peak: #1

Listen

No grandiose professions here – just an unaffected, intimate affirmation of love. I can’t get over how nakedly sincere country music sounded in the nineties. – TS

#167
Let Me Let Go
Faith Hill
1998 | Peak: #1

Listen

It’s been over for some time, and he seems to have moved on. But she’s trapped, always thinking of him, still seeing little glimmers of hope that maybe they’re supposed to be together after all (“If this is for the best / Why are you still in my heart?”). All she wants now is a way out. – DM

#166
New Way Home
K.T. Oslin
1993 | Peak: #64

Listen

It was always a great song, but the synthesizer-drenched, slow-paced arrangement on Love in a Small Town masqueraded its strengths. When Oslin recorded it again for inclusion in her greatest hits collection, it was finally fully realized. The premise is simple: she’s finally moving on from a heartbreak, but she’s changing the way she drives home so she doesn’t accidentally see how he’s moving on as well. – KC

#165
Nothin’ But the Wheel
Patty Loveless
1993 | Peak: #20

Listen

There’s not a nineties artist who could emote mournfulness more convincingly than Patty Loveless. Throughout the song, we naturally think that she’s leaving in the lonely cover of darkness in order to escape a relationship that she doesn’t want anymore, but we soon discover that it’s even sadder as it’s revealed: “The only thing I know for sure is that you don’t want me anymore.” – LW

#164
She Is His Only Need
Wynonna
1992 | Peak: #1

Listen

A man’s work ethic traced back to pleasing the woman he loves. It’s clear that she’d be just as happy if he didn’t keep buying her things that she wanted, but he’s only happy if he keeps doing so. – KC

#163
Foolish Pride
Travis Tritt
1994 | Peak: #1

Listen

Tritt offers a straightforward primer on how not to let a marital spat spiral out of control. It all starts with checking pride at the door. – LW

#162
My Baby Loves Me
Martina McBride
1993 | Peak: #2

Listen

A bold anthem for women whose men have accepted them for who they are, flaws and all. This is anything but a love song; rather, it’s a fierce declaration to the world. – TS

#161
What’s It To You
Clay Walker
1993 | Peak: #1

Listen

This clearly isn’t country music’s finest poetic moment, and I’ll admit I don’t really know what love is to Walker –something along the lines of two hearts beating as one? But here’s the deal: he sure knows. He infuses his performance with such raw, electric energy that the song becomes an invigorating anthem for those who couldn’t be more convinced of their love for someone. And that final clap-along chorus? Pure joy. – TS

#160
Three Chords and the Truth
Sara Evans
1997 | Peak: #44

Listen

Many country songs pay tribute to music’s sublime ability to evoke buried memories and emotions. Evans takes it a step further, suggesting that a song, even one heard for the first time, can invoke action; in her case, it pushes her to reconcile with her loved one. How appropriate that this record is firmly focused on the music, with its bare-bones arrangement and pure, straightforward vocals. – TS

#159
We Tell Ourselves
Clint Black
1992 | Peak: #2

Listen

After a brief hiatus, Black returned with the lead single from his third album, The Hard Way. For the first time, he truly let his rock roots show. It’s a growling performance of a lyric that warrants it. – KC

#158
Eagle When She Flies
Dolly Parton
1991 | Peak: #33

Listen

As sensitive and fitting a description of womankind as I’ve ever heard. There’s not a voice in this world that can match this song’s message the way that Parton’s does. – TS

#157
Walk On
Reba McEntire
1990 | Peak: #2

Listen

Here’s an inspirational song that’s just so full of life and energy that it somehow rises above the cringe/cheese factor. – LW

#156
Brotherly Love
Keith Whitley & Earl Thomas Conley
1991 | Peak: #2

Listen

The love that is sung about  in “Brotherly Love” is something that I see between my own brothers. It’s quiet, but fierce, just like the emotion of this song, which became ever more poignant after its posthumous release. – LW

#155
Cry On the Shoulder of the Road
Martina McBride
1997 | Peak: #26

Listen

Once upon a time, Martina McBride sang songs with emotions that ranged beyond peppy, motivational clichés. From her strongest album to date, “Cry on the Shoulder of the Road” is among the finest and quietest exhibits of such a time. – LW

#154
You Were Mine
Dixie Chicks
1998 | Peak: #1

Listen

Maines sings the fire out of this song about a broken marriage, but the show-stealer is the crushing bridge, in which she wonders how she’ll tell her two-year-old and four-year-old that their father changed his mind. – TS

#153
Let Go of the Stone
John Anderson
1992 | Peak: #7

Listen

Backed by a beautifully sympathetic  piano-driven production, Anderson delivers a heartfelt plea to a friend, or potential lover, to let go of the emotional baggage (the stone) that is holding her down. He counsels, “If I’m ever gonna save you, let go of the stone.” – LW

#152
When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back
Confederate Railroad
1993 | Peak: #14

Listen

This is a dramatic example of being one’s worst enemy. He starts by being a rebellious/troubled young man who unceremoniously leaves home, then becomes a deadbeat father who leaves his soon-to-be bride at the alter, and  finally ends up killing a man and going to jail. Only in a country song! – LW

#151
Midnight in Montgomery
Alan Jackson
1992 | Peak: #3

Listen

One of the spookiest songs of the nineties, Jackson sings of seeing Hank Williams’ ghost at his grave site. The thrilling whine of the steel guitar only intensifies the already vivid imagery in the song. – LW

While the Grammys have honored country music from the very first ceremony in 1959, they did not begin honoring by gender until 1965, when the country categories were expanded along with the other genre categories. This year, the 45th trophy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance will be awarded.

In a continuation of our Grammy Flashback series, here is a rundown of the Best Country Vocal Performance, Male category. It was first awarded in 1965, and included singles competing with albums until the Best Country Album category was added in 1995. When an album is nominated, it is in italics, and a single track is in quotation marks.

As usual, we start with a look at this year’s nominees and work our way back. Be sure to vote in My Kind of Country’s Best Male Country Vocal Performance poll and let your preference for this year’s race be known!

2009

• Trace Adkins, “You’re Gonna Miss This”
• Jamey Johnson, “In Color”
• James Otto, “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”
• Brad Paisley, “Letter to Me”
• George Strait, “Troubadour”

As with the album race, this year’s contenders for Best Male Country Vocal Performance are a combination of unrecognized veterans and promising newcomers. In fact, none of this year’s nominees have won in this category, and only one of them – Brad Paisley – has a Grammy at all.

First, the veterans. Paisley has numerous ACM and CMA victories to his credit, including two each for Male Vocalist.  Although he’s been nominated for this award twice before, this is the first time he’s contended with a cut that can’t be dismissed as a novelty number. The touching self-penned “Letter to Me” is his best shot yet at taking this home.

Trace Adkins has been at this a bit longer than Paisley, but this is his first Grammy nomination. His crossover exposure from Celebrity Apprentice might help him out here, along with the fact that the song was considered strong enough by voters to earn a nomination of its own.

But the real veteran to watch out for is George Strait. After being nominated only twice for this category in the first 25 years of his career, voters have now given him three consecutive nominations. This is one of four nods he’s earned for the 2009 ceremony, and “Troubadour” is essentially the story of his epic career distilled into a radio-length song. It would be the perfect way to honor the man and his music in one fell swoop.

However, there’s a newcomer that might be a Grammy favorite already.  We just haven’t found out yet. Not James Otto, of course, who is nominated for his charming romantic romp “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”, but rather, Jamey Johnson. The recent Nashville Scene critics’ poll further confirmed the depth of his support among tastemakers, and his nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Album indicate that he’s very much on the academy’s radar. It helps that he has the most substantial track of the five, and it’s the obvious choice for traditionalists, who have little reason to split their votes in this category. If voters aren’t considering legacy when making their selections, he has a great shot at this.

2008

• Dierks Bentley, “Long Trip Alone”
• Alan Jackson, “A Woman’s Love”
• Tim McGraw, “If You’re Reading This”
• George Strait, “Give it Away”
• Keith Urban, “Stupid Boy”

The often offbeat Grammy voters have been surprisingly mainstream in this category for the past three years, a trend best exemplified by this lineup, which was the first in more than a decade to feature only top ten radio hits. Tim McGraw and Keith Urban were the only two who had won this before, and it was Urban who emerged victorious. ”Stupid Boy” was a highlight of his fourth studio album, and this was the only major award that the impressive collection would win.

2007

• Dierks Bentley, “Every Mile a Memory”
• Vince Gill, “The Reason Why”
• George Strait, “The Seashores of Old Mexico”
• Josh Turner, “Would You Go With Me”
• Keith Urban, “Once in a Lifetime”

Vince Gill returned to win in this category for a ninth time with “The Reason Why.” Not only is he, by far, the most honored artist in this category, his wins here account for nine of the nineteen Grammys currently on his mantle.

2006

• George Jones, “Funny How Time Slips Away”
• Toby Keith, “As Good As I Once Was”
• Delbert McClinton, “Midnight Communion”
• Willie Nelson, “Good Ol’ Boys”
• Brad Paisley, “Alcohol”
• Keith Urban, “You’ll Think of Me”

Urban’s biggest and probably best hit launched his second album to triple platinum and established him as a crossover artist. He gave a killer performance of the song on the show. Toby Keith was a first-time nominee here, and while he publicly groused that the Grammys put too little emphasis on commercial success in picking their nominations, he lost to the only track that was a bigger hit than his own.

2005

• Johnny Cash, “Engine One-Forty-Three”
• Lyle Lovett, “In My Own Mind”
• Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dying”
• Willie Nelson, “You Are My Flower”
• Keith Urban, “You’ll Think of Me”

McGraw’s biggest hit won him his first Grammy in this category. His other wins have been for his collaborations with wife Faith Hill.  To the Grammy voters’ credit, they have been reluctant to shower Johnny Cash with posthumous Grammys, so his predicted win here for a mundane effort didn’t come to pass.

2004

• Ray Benson, “Annabelle”
• Vince Gill, “Next Big Thing”
• Lyle Lovett, “My Baby Don’t Tolerate”
• Tim McGraw, “She’s My Kind of Rain”
• Joe Nichols, “Brokenheartsville”
• Randy Travis, “Three Wooden Crosses”

My vote would’ve gone to Randy Travis, who was nominated with his finest single in years, but Gill remained the voter’s favorite. Travis did; however, win two Grammys in the gospel categories, this and the previous year.

2003

• Johnny Cash, “Give My Love to Rose”
• Pat Green, “Three Days”
• Alan Jackson, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”
• Joe Nichols, “The Impossible”
• Brad Paisley, “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”

I fully expected Jackson to win here, but his understated performance lost out to one of the only gems on Cash’s fourth American project. Voters wisely acknowledged Jackson in the Best Country Song category, making him one of the few artist-songwriters to sweep the industry songwriting awards with one composition.

2002

• Ryan Adams, “Lovesick Blues”
• Johnny Cash, “I Dreamed About Mama Last Night”
• Lyle Lovett, “San Antonio Girl”
• Tim McGraw, “Grown Men Don’t Cry”
• Willie Nelson, “Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)”
• Ralph Stanley, “O Death”

This was one of those times where you are just thankful the Grammys exist. Stanley’s “O Death” was the most powerful track on the storied O Brother soundtrack, but without a video, it was only known to those people who listened to the album all the way through. That NARAS had the good taste to both nominate it and vote it the winner, which was a welcome surprise.

2001

• Johnny Cash, “Solitary Man”
• Vince Gill, “Feels Like Love”
• Billy Gilman, “One Voice”
• Tim McGraw, “My Best Friend”
• Dwight Yoakam, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere” (Acoustic)

Grammy voters listening to this category couldn’t get a more drastic difference in male voices than the withered-with-age Cash and the prepubescent Gilman. “Solitary Man” was one of the most inspired covers Cash ever did with Rick Rubin, and it deserved the gold.

2000

• Vince Gill, “Don’t Come Cryin’ to Me”
• George Jones, “Choices”
• Lyle Lovett, “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)”
• Tim McGraw, “Please Remember Me”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”

Jones won his first Grammy in twenty years for his harrowing “Choices,” which became oddly prescient as it was released in the aftermath of his near-death experience in an alcohol-related car crash.

1999

• Clint Black, “Nothin’ But the Taillights”
• Garth Brooks, “To Make You Feel My Love”
• Vince Gill, “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind”
• Steve Wariner, “Holes in the Floor of Heaven”

Gill won a record-setting fifth year in a row, a domination that no country category has seen before or since. After being nominated for three years in a row, Black hasn’t been cited since.

1998

• Clint Black, “Something That We Do”
• Johnny Cash, “Rusty Cage”
• Vince Gill, “Pretty Little Adriana”
• Willie Nelson, “Peach Pickin’ Time Down in Georgia”
• George Strait, “Carrying Your Love With Me”
  

NARAS was so sure that Strait would get his first Grammy that they invited him to perform on the show, and he agreed. Unfortunately, sickness required Vince Gill to fill in for him, and Gill won the award, allowing him to acknowledge the memory of the young girl who inspired the song.

1997

• Clint Black, “Like the Rain”
• Junior Brown, “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead”
• Vince Gill, “Worlds Apart”
• Lyle Lovett, “Private Conversation”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Nothing”

Amid a strong lineup, the Grammy again went to Vince Gill.   This time around, he won for a tender plea for harmony within families and among all races and creeds.   A very inspiring song that was written while eating grilled cheeseburgers with Bob DiPiero at Rotier’s in Nashville.

1996

• John Berry, “Standing on the Edge of Goodbye”
• Vince Gill, “Go Rest High on That Mountain”
• Alan Jackson, “Gone Country”
• John Michael Montgomery, “I Can Love You Like That”
• Dwight Yoakam, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere (Live)”

Strong entries from Jackson and Berry, plus a well-known song that was a hit for All 4 One after topping the charts for Montgomery, couldn’t stop Grammy powerhourse Gill from winning again. Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs provided the soaring harmonies.

1995

• David Ball, “Thinkin’ Problem”
• John Berry, “Your Love Amazes Me”
• Vince Gill, “When Love Finds You”
• John Michael Montgomery, “I Swear”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Pocket of a Clown”

The Grammys were getting dull, with Gill winning his third in this category the same evening that Mary Chapin Carpenter picked up her fourth in the Female category.

1994

• Garth Brooks, “Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til the Sun Comes Up)”
• Alan Jackson, “Chattahoochee”
• George Jones, “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair”
• Aaron Neville, “The Grand Tour”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Ain’t That Lonely Yet”

An astonished Yoakam accepted his Grammy on the live telecast, his only victory in this category in ten nominations. It’s also one of the few hits he had that was neither self-written nor a cover of another artist’s hit.

1993

• Garth Brooks, The Chase
• Billy Ray Cyrus, “Achy Breaky Heart”
• Vince Gill, I Still Believe in You
• Randy Travis, “Better Class of Losers”
• Travis Tritt, “Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man”

Gill was the last artist to win this category for a full-length album. The same set won Album of the Year at the CMA’s.

1992

• Garth Brooks, Ropin’ the Wind
• Billy Dean, “Somewhere in My Broken Heart”
• Vince Gill, Pocket Full of Gold
• Alan Jackson, Don’t Rock the Jukebox
• Travis Tritt, “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”

Despite breaking records, Brooks was left out of the big categories at the 1992 Grammys. He did win for his only nomination that evening, over a field that shows just how excellent commercial country was in the early nineties.

1991

• Garth Brooks, “Friends in Low Places”
• Vince Gill, “When I Call Your Name”
• Doug Stone, “I’d Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)”
• Randy Travis, “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Turn it On, Turn it Up, Turn Me Loose”

It would eventually become a yearly tradition, but when Vince Gill won his first Grammy, it was after more than a decade in the recording industry.

1990

• Clint Black, Killin’ Time
• Rodney Crowell, “After All This Time”
• Lyle Lovett, Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
• Randy Travis, “It’s Just a Matter of Time”
• Keith Whitley, “I’m No Stranger to the Rain”

Lovett is another frequent nominee in this category who has only actually won once.  The album includes his cheeky cover of the Tammy Wynette classic “Stand By Your Man.”

1989

• Rodney Crowell, Diamonds and Dirt
• Lyle Lovett, Pontiac
• Dan Seals, “Addicted”
• Randy Travis, Old 8×10
• Dwight Yoakam, Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room

Not one of Travis’ better albums, but who doesn’t enjoy “Deeper Than the Holler”?  Seals’s only nomination in this category is for a song written by popular folk star Cheryl Wheeler, who also penned the Suzy Bogguss hit “Aces.”

1988

• Steve Earle, Exit O
• George Strait, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”
• Randy Travis, Always & Forever
• Hank Williams, Jr., Born to Boogie
• Dwight Yoakam, Hillbilly Deluxe

Grammy partially redeems itself for overlooking Travis, Earle and Yoakam the previous year. Travis’ second album is almost good as his legendary debut.

1987

• Steve Earle, Guitar Town
• Ronnie Milsap, Lost in the Fifties Tonight
• Randy Travis, “Diggin’ Up Bones”
• Hank Williams, Jr., “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
• Dwight Yoakam, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Three of country’s most artistically significant newcomers lose to the album home of the previous year’s winning entry. The most charitable explanation I can come up with is they split the vote.

1986

• Lee Greenwood, “I Don’t Mind the Thorns (If You’re the Rose)”
• Mel McDaniel, “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Lost in the Fifties Tonight”
• Willie Nelson, “Loving You Was Easy”
• Ricky Skaggs, “You Make Me Feel Like a Man”

Milsap, ever the Grammy favorite, hit the sweet spot of nostalgic voters with this swooning throwback to fifties pop that borrowed heavily from “In the Still of the Night.”

1985

• Lee Greenwood, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
• Merle Haggard, “That’s the Way Love Goes”
• Willie Nelson, “City of New Orleans”
• Ricky Skaggs, Country Boy
• Hank Williams, Jr., “All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight”

Haggard finally wins in this category, and with one of his very best ballads.   He would later cover the song with Jewel, back when she was first contemplating making the jump to country music.

1984

• Ray Charles, “Born to Love Me”
• Earl Thomas Conley, “Holding Her and Loving You”
• Vern Gosdin, “If You’re Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do it Right)”
• Lee Greenwood, “I.O.U.”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Stranger in My House”
• Kenny Rogers, “All My Life”

Lee Greenwood’s triumph here with “I’m Just a Gigolo” “I.O.U.” came just months after being named Male Vocalist at the CMA awards.   Surprisingly, he was not a winner of the Grammy for Best Album Package.

1983

• Ronnie Milsap, “He Got You”
• Willie Nelson, “Always On My Mind”
• Jerry Reed, “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)”
• Kenny Rogers, “Love Will Turn You Around”
• Ricky Skaggs, “Heartbroke”

Willie Nelson’s career has been one with many zeniths.   Commercially speaking, “Always on My Mind” was the highest one.   It’s no surprise that it earned him a Grammy.

1982

• John Anderson, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal”
• George Jones, “Still Doin’ Time”
• Ronnie Milsap, “(There’s No) Gettin’ Over Me”
• Willie Nelson, Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Step by Step”

Milsap again. It was a shame, since they could’ve gone for Jones again or for newcomer John Anderson.

1981

• George Burns, “I Wish I Was Eighteen Again”
• George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
• Johnny Lee, “Lookin’ For Love”
• Willie Nelson, “On the Road Again”
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Drivin’ My Life Away”

Well, obviously. It’s not only Jones’s biggest hit ever, it’s arguably the greatest country single of all time.

1980

• Willie Nelson, “Whiskey River”
• Charley Pride, Burgers & Fries
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Every Which Way But Loose”
• Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”
• Hank Williams, Jr., Family Tradition

Rogers has won for both of his signature songs in this category. This is the one that led to several  made-for-television movies.

1979

• Waylon Jennings, I’ve Always Been Crazy
• Ronnie Milsap, “Let’s Take the Long Way Around the World”
• Willie Nelson, “Georgia On My Mind”
• Elvis Presley, “Softly As I Leave You”
• Johnny Pacycheck, “Take This Job and Shove It”
• Kenny Rogers, Love or Something Like It
  

Nelson’s biggest-selling album Stardust gets its due as the Grammy goes to one of the album’s highlights.

1978

• Larry Gatlin, “I Don’t Wanna Cry”
• Waylon Jennings, “Luckenbach, Texas”
• Ronnie Milsap, “It Was Almost Like a Song”
• Kenny Rogers, “Lucille”
• Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles”

This is the signature Rogers hit that hasn’t led to made-for-television movies, but it does boast a singalong chorus.   Who knows how many people have told off Lucille in the past thirty years?

1977

• Mac Davis, Forever Lovers
• Larry Gatlin, “Broken Lady”
• Waylon Jennings, Are You Ready For the Country
• Ronnie Milsap, “(I’m a) Stand By My Woman Man”
• Willie Nelson, “I’d Have to Be Crazy”

Less than a decade after Tammy Wynette won a Grammy for “Stand By Your Man”, Milsap’s male spin on the theme earned him a trophy.

1976

• Glen Campbell, “Country Boy (You’ve Got Your Feet in L.A.)”
• John Denver, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”
• Freddy Fender, “Before the Next Teardrop Falls”
• Waylon Jennings, “Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way”
• Willie Nelson, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
  

Even classics by Fender and Jennings can’t touch the Nelson masterpiece.

1975

• Glen Campbell, “Bonaparte’s Retreat”
• Roy Clark, The Entertainer
• Waylon Jennings, “I’m a Ramblin’ Man”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends”
• Charley Pride, Country Feelin’

Covering Kristofferson is a good way to get a Grammy. Just ask Ray Price and Sammi Smith.

1974

• Tom T. Hall, “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine”
• Kris Kristofferson, “Why Me”
• Charley Pride, “Amazing Love”
• Charlie Rich, “Behind Closed Doors”
• Johnny Russell, “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer”

Of course, Kristofferson recording his own work didn’t lead to a Grammy. In another year, it might have, but Rich is the stuff of legend here.

1973

• Merle Haggard, “It’s Not Love (But it’s Not Bad)
• Waylon Jennings, “Good Hearted Woman”
• Jerry Lee Lewis, “Chantilly Lace”
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs
• Charlie Rich, “I Take it On Home”

The album home of “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” gets the Grammy that the single lost the previous year.

1972

• Freddie Hart, “Easy Loving”
• Johnny Paycheck, “She’s All I Got”
• Ray Price, “I Won’t Mention it Again”
• Charley Pride, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning”
• Jerry Reed, “When You’re Hot (You’re Hot)”
  

Reed won against a collection of classic recordings.   This was one of those years where a victory by any of the nominees would be justified.

1971

• Johnny Cash, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride’s 10th Album
• Ray Price, “For the Good Times”
• Jerry Reed, “Amos Moses”

The other way to lose a Grammy with a Kristofferson song? Be nominated against another Kristofferson song! In another rock-solid set of nominees, Price’s classic rendition of “For the Good Times” takes the gold, even though Cash had won the previous two years.

1970

• Johnny Cash, “A Boy Named Sue”
• Clay Hart, “Spring”
• Bobby Lewis, “From Heaven to Heartache”
• Charley Pride, “All I Have to Offer You is Me”
• Jerry Reed, “Are You From Dixie”
  

Cash became the second artist to win this two years in a row.   That both of his victories were recorded live in prison is pretty remarkable in itself.

1969

• Glen Campbell, “I Wanna Live”
• Henson Cargill, “Skip a Rope”
• Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues (Live)”
• Roger Miller, “Little Green Apples”
• Porter Wagoner, “The Carroll County Accident”

It was already one of his best songs, but after hearing it performed live for the inmates of Folsom Prison, the original recording sounds almost quaint.

1968

• Jim Ed Brown, “Pop a Top”
• Glen Campbell, “Gentle On My Mind”
• Jack Greene, “All the Time”
• Charley Pride, “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger”
• Porter Wagoner, “Cold Hard Facts of Life”
  

Glen Campbell’s crossover success would help him win several Grammy awards in 1968 and 1969.  Wagoner’s cited here for his best single.

1967

• Ben Colder, “Almost Persuaded No. 2″
• Jack Greene, “There Goes My Everything”
• David Houston, “Almost Persuaded”
• Charley Pride, “Just Between You and Me”
• Jim Reeves, “Distant Drums”

David Houston emerged victorious with a classic anthem for those who almost cheat.   Perhaps Colder came in second.

1966

• Eddy Arnold, “Make the World Go Away”
• Bobby Bare, “Talk Me Some Sense”
• Carl Belew, “Crystal Chandelier”
• Roger Miller, “King of the Road”
• Jim Reeves, “Is it Really Over?”

Can’t you hear those sweeping strings and Arnold’s soaring vocals as soon as you read the words “Make the World Go Away”?   Anyway,  not only did “King of the Road” win several Grammys in 1966, the parody “Queen of the House” even won the female trophy.

1965

• Bobby Bare, “Four Strong Winds”
• Johnny Cash, “I Walk the Line”
• George Hamilton IV, Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston
• Sonny James, You’re the Only World I Know
• Hank Locklin, Hank Locklin Sings Hank Williams
• Roger Miller, “Dang Me”
• Buck Owens, My Heart Skips a Beat

Miller won the first trophy in this category, one of eleven victories in just two years.

2010

• Luke Bryan
• Easton Corbin
• Jerrod Neimann
• Chris Young
• Zac Brown Band

Usually there isn’t this much turnover in this race unless most of last year’s nominees are ineligible.  This year, only one of the four eligible nominees from last year – Zac Brown Band – earns a nomination.  With their massive success and their multiple nominations, they’ve got an excellent shot at winning. Then again, Easton Corbin is elsewhere on the ballot, too. It could be a horse race.
2009

• Randy Houser
• Jamey Johnson
• Jake Owen
• Darius Rucker
  
• Zac Brown Band

Thirteen years after winning the Best New Artist Grammy as part of Hootie & The Blowfish, Darius Rucker won the country music equivalent, adding an exclamation point to the most successful pop-to-country crossover in a generation.

2008

• Jason Aldean
• Rodney Atkins
  
• Lady Antebellum
• James Otto
  
• Kellie Pickler

The industry favorites Lady Antebellum became the fourth band in history to win this award, following Rascal Flatts, Dixie Chicks and Sawyer Brown.

2007

• Jason Aldean
• Rodney Atkins
  
• Little Big Town
• Kellie Pickler
• Taylor Swift

In the year since winning the Horizon Award, Swift has solidified her position as the genre’s most successful rising star.  While her debut album hasn’t reached the sales heights of the first discs by previous winners Carire Underwood and Gretchen Wilson, Swift is still one of the genre’s only significant sellers.

2006

• Miranda Lambert
• Little Big Town
• Sugarland
• Josh Turner
• Carrie Underwood

I had a sneaking suspicion that Josh Turner was going to take this home, but as I’ve said before, Carrie’s got the best pipes since Trisha Yearwood. That she’ was acknowledged for that at such an early stage of her career is pretty amazing. Somehow I think the thrill of winning Horizon was short-lived, as winning Female Vocalist the same night left that memory in the dust.

2005

• Dierks Bentley
• Big & Rich
• Miranda Lambert
• Julie Roberts
• Sugarland

Four of these five were nominees again the following year, and all in categories besides just Horizon, though Lambert got another shot at that as well. I think Big & Rich and Sugarland are making the most interesting music, and they’re moving more units than Bentley, though he’s no slouch himself. The CMA showed good judgment this year.

2004

• Dierks Bentley
• Big & Rich
• Julie Roberts
• Josh Turner
• Gretchen Wilson

Wilson fever was rampant, and she won this in a walk. Her career has cooled tremendously since then, but the future seemed white hot in 2004.  In retrospect, it is Josh Turner who has been the most dependably successful artist from this strong batch of artists.

2003

• Gary Allan
• Buddy Jewell
• Joe Nichols
• Blake Shelton
• Darryl Worley

Few things in CMA history annoy me more than the lack of recognition for Gary Allan. They finally nominated him for something in 2003, after he’d already been around for years, and passed him over for the mega-hyped Joe Nichols, who has hardly lived up to expectations.

2002

• Caroyln Dawn Johnson
• Nickel Creek
• Rascal Flatts
• Phil Vassar
• Darryl Worley

The hair-gel boys won over a brilliant progressive bluegrass band and three talented singer-songwriters. There’s no denying they’ve had the most success by far ever since, but it’s hard not to grimace at it.

2001

• Jessica Andrews
• Nickel Creek
• Jamie O’Neal
• Keith Urban
• Phil Vassar

Urban’s first album hardly impressed me, but the CMA made a good call, since he’s gone on to become one of the genre’s strongest talents, artistically and commercially.

2000

• Sara Evans
• Montgomery Gentry
• Brad Paisley
• SHeDaisy
• Chely Wright

I don’t care how many awards he wins, Brad Paisley will always be “Bob Saget in a Cowboy Hat” to me. All joking aside, he’s certainly lived up to the expectations this award represented.  He’s dominated at radio for the entire decade.

1999

• Kenny Chesney
• Sara Evans
• Jo Dee Messina
• The Wilkinsons
• Chely Wright

Messina was on fire back in the late nineties, so she was expected to win. I think that Evans has made more interesting music since then, and Chesney has, of course, become a superstar. Amazingly enough, he’d already been around for five years when he was finally nominated.

1998

• Trace Adkins
• Dixie Chicks
• Jo Dee Messina
• Michael Peterson
• Lee Ann Womack

Well, obviously. The entire catalogs of the other four artists combined haven’t sold as much as Wide Open Spaces. It’s interesting that no new act since the Chicks have been able to sell 8 million or more of an album. I had to chuckle reading this list, since it reminded me of the “Michael Peterson is the next Garth Brooks!” hype that Warner Bros. pushed so hard back then.

1997

• Trace Adkins
• Deana Carter
• Terri Clark
• LeAnn Rimes
• Lee Ann Womack

All but Carter have continued to have great success. I think I was rooting for Terri Clark that year.   Lee Ann Womack has since demonstrated herself to be the biggest artistic force of the bunch.

1996

• Terri Clark
• Wade Hayes
• LeAnn Rimes
• Shania Twain
• Bryan White

The three ladies are still around, and I must say I miss Wade Hayes and Bryan White. I think they had too much early success at too young of an age. White wrote the killer “Sometimes I Feel Like Elvis” on the last Wynonna album, so his pen is still potent at least.

1995

• David Ball
• John Berry
• Faith Hill
• Alison Krauss
• Shania Twain

You can tell we’re in the mid-nineties by all the fantastic, distinctive female vocalists that are popping up in this category; look how fast the men they were nominated with disappeared.

1994

• Faith Hill
• Martina McBride
• Tim McGraw
• John Michael Montgomery
• Lee Roy Parnell

Those of us who can’t fathom how Rascal Flatts can be selling millions of records can take comfort in the tale of John Michael Montgomery. Pretty boys don’t stay on top forever, even if they beat out four great artists while they reign.

1993

• Mark Chesnutt
• Sammy Kershaw
• Tracy Lawrence
• John Michael Montgomery
• Trisha Yearwood

Mark Chesnutt has made some damn good albums, especially since leaving the major labels. What a great talent.

1992

• Suzy Bogguss
• Brooks & Dunn
• Billy Dean
• Pam Tillis
• Trisha Yearwood

One of the most shocking wins in CMA history, as Trisha Yearwood was heavily favored to win. But “Someday Soon”, “Outbound Plane” and “Aces” were the singles that earned Bogguss the award, and they were pretty darn great. She’s still making great music today. How impressive that not one of these five nominees has been lost as a presence in country music, even if most of them are doing it the indie way.

1991

• Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Mark Chesnutt
• Doug Stone
• Pam Tillis
• Travis Tritt

I love me some Pam Tillis, but Tritt won this one easily. He seemed poised for superstardom back then. Heck, so did the rest of them. The amazing thing is, a good half-dozen others could’ve been nominated the same year and that statement would still be true. It was such a golden age for young talent.

1990

• Garth Brooks
• Alan Jackson
• Kentucky Headhunters
• Lorrie Morgan
• Travis Tritt

Hard to believe that Brooks and Jackson were once just a part of a big crop of new young stars. Both would go on to become a couple of the biggest CMA winners of all-time.

1989

• Clint Black
• Desert Rose Band
• Patty Loveless
• Shenandoah
• Keith Whitley

Whitley was already dead when he was nominated for this award, which is a bit strange. Clint Black was riding a brilliant debut album and won easily, though I’d say that Loveless has ultimately proven to be the better talent.

1988

• Highway 101
• Patty Loveless
• K.T. Oslin
• Ricky Van Shelton
• Sweethearts of the Rodeo

I was about to call Ricky Van Shelton the John Michael Montgomery of the late eighties, but that’s really unfair. Shelton is a remarkably gifted singer. This is a wonderful list, with all five acts worthy of the award.

1987

• T. Graham Brown
• Holly Dunn
• The O’Kanes
• Restless Heart
• Sweethearts of the Rodeo

Dunn’s “Daddy Hands” made her the sentimental favorite, I suppose. Her voice has always annoyed me a bit. She would be washed away in the early nineties wave of female talent, but still managed to score some impressive hits before then.

1986

• The Forester Sisters
• Kathy Mattea
• Dan Seals
• Randy Travis
• Dwight Yoakam

Mattea, Travis and Yoakam are still making great music, twenty years later. It irks me that Yoakam hasn’t won any CMA awards, but then again, neither did Buck Owens, his musical hero.

1985

• Ray Charles
• Mel McDaniel
• Eddy Raven
• Sawyer Brown
• John Schneider

Well, this lineup hasn’t aged well, has it? Put aside Charles, a legend who’d made classic country albums two decades earlier, and you have the last, dying remains of the Urban Cowboy era. The CMA gave it to Sawyer Brown, who was making terrible music in the wake of their Star Search victory, but time has been kind to that decision – they ended up one of the best country bands of the nineties, writing deep and meaningful songs that validated their early recognition.

1984

• Deborah Allen
• Earl Thomas Conley
• Vern Gosdin
• The Judds
• Michael Martin Murphey

“Slap the dog and spit in the fire!” That’s what Naomi Judd said through tears as she and her prodigal daughter, Wynonna, accepted the Horizon Award in homemade dresses. The spectacle begins.

1983

• John Anderson
• Vern Gosdin
• Reba McEntire
• George Strait
• The Whites

Four of the best vocalists in the genre’s history, and they’re all nominated in the same year. Anderson was a good choice, and understandable, since McEntire hadn’t started singing in her pure country twang that would win her four vocalist awards, and Strait’s talents are subtle. The Whites were pretty darn good, too. One of the best lineups this category has ever seen.

1982

• John Anderson
• Rosanne Cash
• David Frizzell
• Lee Greenwood
• Ricky Skaggs

I would’ve gone with Anderson or Cash, but Skaggs certainly has shown endurance over the years.  He won Male Vocalist the very same night, making him the first artist in history to win both the Horizon Award and their vocalist race.   In the years since, this has only been done by Alison Krauss, Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood.

1981

• Rosanne Cash
• David Frizzell
• Terri Gibbs
• T.G. Sheppard
• Shelly West
• Boxcar Willie

A rather weak start for the category, don’t you think? How Rosanne Cash lost against this group, especially to the one-hit wonder Terri Gibbs, is a mystery to me.