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Country Songs Are Dominating the Hot 100. We Shouldn’t Be Surprised
Country music has swept the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time ever, with country songs occupying all five top spots simultaneously. The feat, achieved by Ella Langley, Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, Stella Lefty and a Langley-Wallen duet, surpasses even the genre's 1990s peak led by Garth Brooks and Shania Twain, underlining a sustained surge in country music's mainstream popularity rather than a one-off fluke.
The chart-topping songs are Langley's "Choosin' Texas" (16 weeks at Number One), Wallen's "Been By Now", Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You", the Langley-Wallen collaboration "I Can't Love You Anymore", and Lefty's "Boston". This builds on a string of recent milestones: in 2023 Wallen and Luke Combs took the top two Hot 100 spots for the first time in four decades, Shaboozey's "Bar Song" spent 19 weeks at Number One in 2024, and Wallen logged a record 37 simultaneous Hot 100 entries this spring. Should Langley remain at Number One next week, she would overtake Wallen's own record for weeks spent atop the chart.
In short
- Country songs hold all top five Hot 100 positions for the first time ever
- Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" leads, with 16 weeks at Number One
- Continues a country chart surge since 2023, led by Wallen and Shaboozey
Explained simply
The Billboard Hot 100 ranks popular songs in the United States, drawing on listening, sales and radio play. Country music is a broad genre with roots in American folk traditions; artists such as Garth Brooks and Shania Twain helped it reach large audiences beyond its traditional base in the 1990s.
Country’s recent chart presence has grown through hits by artists including Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Shaboozey, as well as Taylor Swift, who began her career in country music. Streaming has changed how listeners discover music and how chart success is measured, making it easier for songs to reach audiences across genres.