country music
An American roots genre built on folk, blues, and gospel traditions, originating in the rural South.
In Depth
Country music emerged from the folk traditions of the American South and Appalachia in the 1920s, blending English, Scottish, and Irish ballad traditions with African-American blues and gospel. The Grand Ole Opry radio show, broadcasting from Nashville from 1925, became the genre's central institution. The genre has evolved through many phases: the honky-tonk era (Hank Williams), the Nashville Sound (Patsy Cline), outlaw country (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings), new traditionalism (George Strait), and today's pop-country fusion. Through all these changes, country music has maintained its emphasis on storytelling, emotional directness, and the themes of love, loss, work, and home.
Hank Williams died at 29 with just 35 singles to his name, yet his influence on country, rock, and popular music is immeasurable — Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, and Bruce Springsteen all cite him.