Country music is just as popular (if not more popular) than ever, as anyone with ears can tell you. Nearly 80 years since Hank Williams had his first hit with “Move It on Over,” country stars are still racking up bestselling songs, with last year’s chart-toppers including tracks like Shaboozey‘s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and Chappell Roan‘s “The Giver.”
So when it comes to choosing the greatest country song ever, there’s an overwhelming number of options to pick from. Luckily, Billboard managed to narrow it down to the 100 “best country songs of all time”…and, interestingly enough, the top 10 was packed with classics from decades gone by (sorry, “Chicken Fried”).
In tenth place was Tammy Wynette‘s 1968 classic, “Stand by Your Man,” and with good reason (if you’ve ever been romantically involved with a male, the words “‘Cause after all, he’s just a man” have probably run through your head more than once). Next up, at #9, was the only song from the ’90s to make it into the top 10: Garth Brooks‘ “forever singalong” “Friends in Low Places” (1990). The Carter Family’s “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” (1935), in eighth place, was the oldest tune at the top (famously covered by the Nitty Gritty Dirty Band in 1972 on their album of the same name).
Loretta Lynn‘s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1970), described by Billboard as a “three-minute encapsulation of finger-bleeding work, parental love, endless chores and indefatigable pride” took the #7 spot, while the iconic Wiliams took 6th place with his quintessential ballad, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (1949).
Kicking off the top five was Johnny Cash with the legendary 1956 song “I Walk the Line” (his first #1 Billboard hit), followed by George Jones and the devastating “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (1980). Third place went to Willie Nelson‘s “On the Road Again” (1980), which the 92-year-old musician still plays live to this day.
Coming in second was Patsy Cline with “Crazy” (1961), which — although it was written by Nelson — became her signature song and one of the most popular country tracks in history.
The top spot on the list went to another country queen, whose reign is still going strong: Dolly Parton‘s 1973 masterpiece, “Jolene,” which Billboard called the prolific singer-songwriter’s “pen’s finest moment.”
Years after the song’s release, Parton opened up about her inspiration during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, saying, “There was a girl that worked at the bank when my husband and I first got married. She got a big crush on him, and I think he kind of had a crush on her. I knew he was spending more time at the bank than we had money. So, I called him on it, and so I kind of took that little bit of that ‘other woman’ kind of thing.”
As for where the name “Jolene” came from, as Parton explained to NPR, “One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl. She was probably 8 years old at the time. And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph.”
“I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So, what is your name?'” Parton continued. “And she said, ‘Jolene.’ And I said, ‘Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.’ I said, ‘That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.'”
The rest is music history.
Related: Dolly Parton’s Favorite Country Song of All Time Has Been Streamed Over 100 Million Times
