Billboard has updated it's "Top 25 Country Artists" list to include data from 2011. This list basically ranks the 25 country artists who have had the biggest careers in and biggest influence on the country genre. The largest change since last years list is Taylor Swift's entry into the list at #24 - her addition was credited to her phenominal sale numbers, with her album "Fearless" being the top sold album (in any genre) over the past 5 years. Swift's entry pushed LeAnn Rimes (who was at 25 last year) off the list.
The top 5 artists are:
5. Tim McGraw - Since his career entry in 1994, McGraw has released 24 #1 Hit Singles, and his tours with his wife Faith Hill (#18 on the Top 25 list) were some of the highest grossing tours in Country Music history.
4. Alan Jackson - Jackson has taken 50 of his charted titles on Country Songs into the top 10, and 26 of those have spent time at No. 1.
3. Reba Mcentire - The best selling female country artist of the '80s and '90s, McEntire has sold over 50 Million Albums and is the 2nd highest selling female country artist of all time, 2nd only to Shania Twain. She also had a successful run in the early 2000s as Annie Oakley in a remake of the play "Annie Get Your Gun", and went on to play the lead character "Reba Hart" in the hit SitCom "Reba". She recently was added to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
2. Garth Brooks - After succesfully entering the country music business in the 90's, Garth Brooks became a music phenominon - rivaling Elvis Presley in album sales (for a time, he was RIAA's Top Selling Solo Artist Ever).
1. George Strait - Country Music Hall of Famer Strait, who holds several all-time Billboard records, tops the list this year. His 44 No. 1s on Country Songs is the most by any artist in the chart's 64-year history.
To see the rest of the list of the Top 25 Country Artists, click here!
