Country Star's 'Mind-Blowing' 'Banger' Just Earned One of the Year's Biggest Honors

Kacey Musgraves has added another major accolade to her celebrated career.

Billboard has named Musgraves’ latest single, “Dry Spell,” one of The 50 Best Songs of 2026 So Far, ranking it No. 5 on the publication’s midyear list. In its review, Billboard went even further, praising the song’s witty lyricism, playful music video and calling it a “perfect single.”

The recognition comes after fans spent more than a year waiting for a song like “Dry Spell.”

While Musgraves’ 2024 album Deeper Well earned widespread critical acclaim for its introspective songwriting, Billboard noted that listeners had been waiting “a lot longer than ‘three-hundred and thirty-five days'” for the kind of upbeat, clever country anthem that “Dry Spell” delivers.

“Kacey Musgraves is at it again – well, not it, but making phenomenal, mind-blowing country music … it is fair to say that fans have been waiting a lot longer than ‘three-hundred and thirty-five days’ for a banger like ‘Dry Spell,'” writes Billboard.

The Western-inspired track is packed with humorous double entendres about the narrator’s frustrating love life, including lines about having “ain’t nobody’s boots under my bed” and “ain’t nobody’s truck up in my drive.” Rather than leaning into heartbreak, Musgraves approaches the subject with her trademark wit, turning loneliness into something both relatable and funny.

Billboard also singled out Musgraves’ vocal performance, praising the way she stretches phrases like “real long” and “last time” to emphasize just how over the situation her narrator has become. According to the publication, the song’s tongue-in-cheek music video, featuring a suggestive grocery store run, “only adds to the humor of an already perfect single.”

The latest honor is another reminder of why Musgraves remains one of country music’s most acclaimed artists.

Since breaking through with Same Trailer Different Park, the Texas singer-songwriter has earned multiple Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for Golden Hour. Her ability to blend traditional country influences with thoughtful songwriting has made her one of the genre’s most distinctive voices while attracting fans well beyond country music.

Now, “Dry Spell” is earning praise not just from listeners but from critics as well.

Landing in Billboard’s top five songs of the year so far places the single alongside some of 2026’s biggest releases across every genre, further cementing Musgraves’ reputation for consistently delivering songs that resonate with both fans and reviewers.

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