This is an alphabetical list of country music performers. Report it to us and we will change or remove the URL of the Country Guy in question. That gritty vocal timbre, coupled with the possibly-too-mature subject matter of her songs (like “Would You Lay With Me [In a Field of Stone])”, made the young Seminole, Texas, native a star and an archetype for the tough-talking, rebellious female performers who followed in her wake. In a mainstream run that only lasted eight years at its height, they scored a staggering 14 Number One singles, but the success of anthems like “Girls Night Out” and “Why Not Me” – which drew heavily on the Kentucky natives’ roots in bluegrass – was hard-earned, as they’d spent years passing around cheaply-recorded cassettes before getting signed. But beneath that ubiquitous hat was a singer and writer who wasn’t afraid to push the music’s boundaries, and before long, Yoakam was mixing it up with rockabilly shuffles, south-of-the-border ballads, Beatles and Queen covers, and skinny-jean stage moves that made the ladies scream. Johnny Cash’s daughter fused literate, vulnerable subject matter with muscular new wave-tinged production during her mainstream country heyday, resulting in a spectacular string of LPs beginning with 1980’s When George Jones died, Patty Loveless sang (with Vince Gill) at his funeral. Together, they blended classic country ideas with honky-tonk’s raucousness, pop’s sticky-sweet hooks and just enough dancefloor-ready sass to get listeners boot-scootin’ along. “Shouldn’t I have all this?” Lucinda Williams asks on her signature song “Passionate Kisses,” and few lines could sum up the Louisiana native’s distinct vision better. That was perfect. Thompson would inspire the character of Bad Blake (played by Oscar winner Jeff Bridges in the 2009 film) in the novel Country’s quintessential harmony singer and finder of songs, Harris’ profound emotional stamp has distinguished hundreds of records (hers and others’) for decades. Loveless’ breakthrough single was a version of Jones’ “If My Heart Had Windows,” and the legend’s own final hit was a duet with Loveless, “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me.” From the late Eighties through most of the Nineties, Loveless married her roots in Appalachian bluegrass to Jones’ in-the-moment honky-tonk countrypolitan, and the result was a string of hits that modernized the old sounds. His unconventional style of playing, especially on the electric guitar, influenced no less than Chet Atkins, with whom he recorded the Grammy-winning To the uninitiated, she’s still Mrs. Waylon Jennings, having married the country legend in 1969, one year after finalizing her divorce from guitar hero Duane Eddy. These days Loveless can’t buy a hit. Bobby Braddock: A Life on Nashville’s Music Row (Co-published with the Country Music Foundation Press) Bobby Braddock. Kategorie:Country-Sänger. A musician’s musician, Stuart logged more than a decade as a sideman for the titans of twang – including Johnny Cash, Doc Watson and Lester Flatt – before launching his solo career. When putting together this ranking of country music’s all-time greats, we looked to movie criticism for inspiration. With elderly wisdom etched in eternal heartbreak, the largely doleful Vern Gosdin canon earned him the nickname “The Voice,” often out-Jones-ing George, to whom he would inevitably be compared. It’s such pure motivation that makes Gill one of country’s most valuable assets. He also made his name as an actor, but in music, Yoakam truly took the music back to the future.