Every artist on this list of the 26 most important country artists of the last 25 years has two things in common: An original voice and something to say.
From there, it’s just a matter of influence and innovation.
This is not a list of the “best” artists or even the most successful artists. In fact, you won’t find several of the biggest hitmakers of the 2000s at all as you read through these 26 names. We’re also not endorsing one particular style of country music more than another.
This means that if you’re a traditionalist, you’re likely to get angry when you see pop-friendly singers like Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts in our rankings. If you love country that blends into pop and rock, you’ll probably question why Kacey Musgraves is here at all.
The answer is that all three of these artists changed country music forever.
We measured an artist’s importance by the impact they made in country music, but not limited to the music. Reba McEntire epitomizes this: She’s a Top 10 most important artist who has had just a handful of No. 1 hits since 2000 (few, if any, would make a Top 10 Reba Songs list). However, she’s shattered the glass ceiling for country women over 50 in other ways.
Think about how rare it is for a 70-year-old woman to be leading a network sitcom. Has it ever happened before Happy’s Place?
Several on this list are included simply because they went first in some kind of important way. They took a stand or found a new path to stardom, and others like them are now benefitting from the paths they paved. Eric Church fits this description — he’s at No. 6 here because his outsider ways made him a superstar.
We’ve got four Country Music Hall of Fame inductees on this list, but (conservatively) another 12 that will get there some day. This proves that innovation doesn’t always come with rewards.
Still, innovation may be the most important thing.
