If you take a microscope to Russell Dickerson‘s song library you will find barely any songs about a breakup. That’s by design.
Dickerson sat on the Taste of Country Nights barstool, and I asked him why songs about a relationship going sour are such a teeny part of his catalogue.
“I have a few, but I have an abnormally low amount I would say,” he admitted.
When pressed further, asking if he disliked breakup songs in general, or if he disliked recording them himself. Dickerson took a deep breath and thought about it for a second.
He said “I guess maybe just me doing them. Because my last breakup was, like, in college and it just feels weird to like harp on — like ‘Wow man, yeah, I’m still tore up about you.'”
Are All All the Songs Russell Dickerson Writes Honest About His Life?
You can guaran-dang-tee-it. The “Happen to Me” singer says “If I’m really writing honest music, I’m not still tore up about my college girlfriend.”
Dickerson is 38 years old and went to Belmont University from 2005 to 2009, so if he did write a breakup song about a girl from college it would be a memory that is two decades old and likely kind of foggy.
That’s not to say that some songwriters can’t and don’t get away with doing just that, but for Dickerson, that is just not his cup of liquor.
If breakup songs are your go-to, let’s take a look at the best country breakup songs that exist today.
Country Music’s 50 Best Breakup Songs
When your heart is hurting, country music has the right song for you. Check out the best country breakup songs of all time, from Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Keith Urban and more.
18 Shocking Country Celebrity Breakups
This list has been updated to include Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, who separated in Sept. 2025.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes

