It was another banner year for country artists in 2025.
Morgan Wallen continued his domination on both the country and pop charts, while Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney, Ella Langley, Russell Dickerson and Riley Green all reached new levels of success.
In addition to Moroney and Langley, there was a new class of artists all of whom experienced their first major flushes of success, including Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore, Carter Faith, Josh Ross, John Morgan and Chase Matthew. Top ushered in a growing neo-traditionalist movement that also includes artists like Jake Worthington and Braxton Keith. With all of the above artists releasing new music, it was a rich and varied musical year.
On Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, Wallen reigned, taking four different songs to the pinnacle in 2025, including “I’m the Problem,” which tied Jelly Roll’s “Liar” for the longest run at the top at five consecutive weeks. Fun fact: in 2025, Hootie & The Blowfish logged their first No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart for their appearance on Scotty McCreery’s “Bottle Rockets,” which features the Darius Rucker-led group singing their 1994 hit, “Hold My Hand.” In comparison, 21 songs hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart in 2025 (through Dec. 15), compared with 28 in 2024.
On the Country Songs chart, Wallen and Tate McRae’s “What I Want” spent 20 weeks at No 1, while Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” logged another 13 weeks at No. 1, following a staggering 27 weeks in 2024. That left little room for other songs, with only five other tunes reaching the summit in 2025 (through Dec. 15).
Below, Billboard spotlights our 10 favorite country songs that were released this year. Some were chart hits, but not all. Mainly, they found themselves on repeat on our own personal playlists.
Honorable mentions go to Kaitlin Butts’ “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me),” Carly Pearce’s “Dream Come True,” Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert’s “A Song To Sing,’ Megan Moroney’s “6 Months Later,” Russell Dickerson’s “Happen to Me,” Nate Smith’s “Fix What You Didn’t Break” and Thomas Rhett and Lanie Gardner’s “What Could Go Right.”
Tyler Childers, “Bitin’ List”
Just try not to laugh as you listen to this country stomper from Childers, in which he declares with an exaggerated drawl his mighty disdain for someone. Of all the ways to tell someone you don’t cherish their chitlins, his declaration, “If there ever come a time I got rabies/ You’re high on my bitin’ list,” may be one of the most clever. It would border on parody if the music, including a banjo breakdown, weren’t so delightful — though it is a bit much when he literally unleashes the hounds at the end of the song. The tune, which is nominated for a Grammy for best country song, is featured on Childers’ excellent Snipe Hunter album. – MELINDA NEWMAN
Kashus Culpepper, “Believe”
Culpepper positions his Foy Vance co-write at the optimal intersection of country, blues and rock. “Believe” finds Culpepper taking a stark look at the challenges that face those who “dare to dream,” but also offers deep appreciation for a faith and hope that gets him through. “The angels, they all come around and hold me up in my darkest hour,” he sings, his high-powered, gritty voice embodying his drive to hold on to optimism in the face of trauma, while sounding immensely at home alongside blistering guitar and percussion. This song adds another layer to Culpepper’s reputation as a formidable, nimble singer-songwriter. – JESSICA NICHOLSON
Kane Brown with Jelly Roll, “Haunted”
Brown and Jelly Roll get real in this vulnerable gut-punch of a song about depression and suicide. Written by Brown, Jaxson Free and Gabe Foust, it’s the kind of song that likely would have never gotten radio play five years ago, before Jelly Roll started releasing confessional songs that rejected the stereotypical motif of suffer-in-silence, stoic male. They are perfect partners here, having both been very open about their mental health struggles that they can’t escape, no matter how much money they make or records they sell. The song is striking in its brutal honesty, and doesn’t try to offer solutions, but provides hope in perhaps making anyone else going through tough times feel less alone. – M.N.
Kelsea Ballerini, “I Sit in Parks”
Ballerini has always been known for writing and recording songs that are unflinchingly personal and honest, chronicling her life, dreams, aspirations and disappointments in daring detail. On “I Sit in Parks,” from her project Mount Pleasant, Ballerini pulls back the curtain on the emotional tug-of-war between pursuing her deeply held career aspirations and her equally passionate longing for a family, as she wonders if the time for creating a family has passed her by. She sets the scene of noticing a family spending time together at a park and ponders, “I wonder if she wants my freedom/ Like I want to be a mother.” In the process, she continues painstakingly building a catalog of songs that evinces her talents for translating personal thoughts into globally reaching anthems. – J.N.
Morgan Wallen, “I’m a Little Crazy”
Wallen usually uses his expressive tenor to lament affairs of the heart, but on this closing track from I’m the Problem, he uses it to lament the affairs of the world. It’s a striking turn that perfectly captures the state of the state, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. He takes on the persona of a gun-owning drug dealer, who, just like the rest of us, is trying to navigate these troubling times with the knowledge that no matter how crazy he is, the world is even crazier. The song, co-written by HARDY, is all the more effective given the stripped-down, gentle melody and Wallen’s restrained delivery. – M.N.
Cody Johnson, “The Fall”
Johnson soared to the top of the Country Airplay chart in 2022 with “’Til You Can’t,” which showcased his gift for teaming full-throttle vocals with a philosophy rooted in making each day count. “The Fall,” featured on the deluxe edition of Leather, shares a similar spirit: The dynamic ballad embraces life’s highs and lows, recognizing that each detour has a purpose, and both valleys and mountaintops shape who a person becomes. “Miles were worth the pain/ Pain was worth it all,” he sings, his unmistakable voice bringing nuance to the song’s story of resilience and wisdom. – J.N.
Lainey Wilson, “Somewhere Over Laredo”
Reigning ACM and CMA Awards entertainer of the year Wilson is in a wistful mood in this bittersweet mid-tempo ballad, which pays homage to The Wizard of Oz’s “Over the Rainbow,” and even interpolates the refrain from the classic song. Her emotional vocals play out over a melody that goes to unexpected places, keeping the listener as slightly unsettled as the protagonist as she revisits — from 35,000 feet in the air — her role as half of a pair of “Lone Star-crossed lovers.” They were wrong for each other from the start, but it felt so right. The song, which reached No. 1 on Country Airplay, has also been nominated for best country song at the upcoming Grammy Awards. – M.N.
Zach Top, “South of Sanity”
Top sings of the struggle to keep a relationship alive while still pursuing his musical passion on this mournful ballad. He sets the scene of taking a call from a lover just moments before he hits the stage for a show. The lover wants him to come home, but he’s already committed to his tour. “When we hung up she was talkin’ leavin’/ Now how am I supposed to sing and play,” he asks in his warm, conversational drawl. Carson Chamberlain’s crisp production and the cozy underpinning of keys and pedal steel further heighten this ‘80s country-inspired track’s spark. – J.N.
Riley Green, “Worst Way”
Green is bringing smoldering sultriness back to country music. Forget subtlety or discretion, this sexy tune is an unapologetic ode to raw, urgent desire that demands to be quenched, the sooner the better. A solo write by Green, the song reached No. 1 on Country Airplay, sandwiched between his two flirty, seductive duets with Ella Langley, both of which also topped the chart, “You Look Like You Love Me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do.” The song’s staying power was greatly aided by its steamy video, which paid homage to Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon’s love affair in Bull Durham. – M.N.
Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
Langley followed her 2024 debut album Hungover by unleashing another compelling reason why she’s one of country music’s brightest newcomers. This song, which has reached the top 20 on both Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and the overall Billboard Hot 100, finds Langley mourning that a trip to Texas has her lover falling for his Lone Star State ex all over again. “He always loved ‘Amarillo by Morning’/ I should’ve taken that as a warning,” Langley sings, while this song harbors a classic country feel, and makes for a superb vessel for Langley’s husky voice and unfiltered approach to delivering a song. – J.N.
