The last year saw country artists like Brothers Osborne, Mickey Guyton, and Carly Pearce delving into some of their most vulnerable, life-shaping moments to create some of 2021’s boldest and most intimate songs.
On this list, Billboard highlights some of country music’s top songs of the past 12 months, from established artists and upstarts alike. Newcomers make excellent showings on this year-end list, while the rankings also offer a nod to the numerous collaborations that lit up the Billboard country charts this year.
Here are our 15 favorite songs from the year in country.
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Chris Young and Kane Brown, "Famous Friends"
Young and Brown salute the “famous friends”– the local sheriff, school teacher, firefighter and preacher — from their respective small towns, who don’t measure their worth by how many people follow them on Instagram or retweet their every Twitter post. Instead, they are just plain folks making a difference in their local communities. “Round here, it’s all about the people you know,” Young, who penned the song with Corey Crowder, sings in this toe-tapper that anyone who moved to the big city will be able to relate to when they think about the hometown heroes they left behind. The casual, sweet friendliness between Young and Brown makes the song all the more infectious. — MELINDA NEWMAN
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Cody Johnson, "'Til You Can't"
A former bull rider and now a formidable country entertainer, Johnson knows plenty about running down a dream. This straightforward country single from Johnson’s Human: The Double Album offers a powerful lesson in making the most of every moment — whether you’re spending time with loved ones or doggedly pursuing a goal. Sonically, it radiates the kind of clean, throwback ’90s country sound reminiscent of Alan Jackson and George Strait. Though Texas native Johnson is a writer on the bulk of his songs, he turns to tunesmiths Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis on this one. “If you’ve got a dream, chase it/ ‘cause a dream won’t chase you back,” Johnson sings, the intensity in his voice making it clear that though he didn’t write this track, he connects with every lyric. Following his previous hit “On My Way to You,” this song is another solid song setting up Johnson as a fast-rising country music force not to be denied. — JESSICA NICHOLSON
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Luke Combs, "Cold As You"
Part of what makes Combs such an exemplary songwriter — he wrote “Cold as You” with Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton and Shane Minor — is the utter relatability of almost any situation he finds himself in. On this driving track, he’s the poor sap (or “broke heart fool on an old bar stool”) drowning his sorrows in a juke joint, done in by a cruel-hearted woman. Combs’ vocal vitriol spills out over this country stomp, especially on the imagery-filled line, “Them cinder block walls ain’t ever been cleaned/ Still ain’t as dirty as you done me.”–M.N.
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Morgan Wade, "Wilder Days"
With her auspicious debut album Reckless, Wade has staked her claim as an undeniable new artist with something to say and the musicality to back it up. This song, which Wade penned with Sadler Vaden (longtime guitarist for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit), melds rock textures, folk-pop sensibilities, precise vocals and a troubadour’s unflinching lyrics. As she shares a kiss with her lover in a hotel lobby, she pleads for more, curious about what he was like as a younger man, back before they met — when he lived in Chicago, smoked and was driven by adventure. “Who were you before I knew your name?/ Were you drunk at midnight waiting for the train?/ You could have been anyone back then,” Wade sings, her voice and the song’s wavy melody capturing both hearty force and a breathy anticipation.— J.N.
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Mickey Guyton, "Remember Her Name"
The title for Guyton’s album and this track was inspired by Breonna Taylor, the Black emergency room worker who was shot to death by police in 2020 — but the focus here is inward. Guyton, who wrote the song with Blake Hubbard, Jarrod M. Ingram and Parker Welling, strives to honor the “girl that didn’t let anything get in her way,” and to conjure up her spirit in the toughest of times. “She’s right in the mirror/don’t let yourself forget,” Guyton dynamically sings in this empowering anthem about believing that everything you need is within you. In her capable gifts, it’s an affirmation that resonates. –M. N. -
Elvie Shane, "My Boy"
This tender take on raising a stepchild first went viral via social media, before it became Shane’s first No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hit this year. Shane’s rough-hewn vocal delivery offers a nice contrast to these lyrical vignettes of moments that solidified his relationship with his stepson, like the first time he was called “Dad” and sharing Saturday morning cartoons. “I wasn’t there for his first steps/ But I ain’t missed a ball game yet,” Shane sings, before reaching the deadpan hook, “He ain’t my blood/ But he’s my boy.” Shane penned the track, found on his full-length debut Backslider, with Lee Starr, Nick Columbia and Russell Sutton. — J.N.
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Eric Church, "Heart on Fire"
No one does passion like Eric Church. In this nostalgic barn burner, Church looks back fondly on an early love whose looks of desire were “soakin’ my soul in gas and settin’ my heart on fire.” Driven by a rollicking piano and sizzling guitar solo, the track comes back around for a huge finish with Church and his powerhouse backing vocalist Joanna Cotten trading vocal licks. Church wrote the song solo, which makes the memories seem even more believable and vibrant. — M.N.
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Lily Rose, "Villain"
In December 2020, newcomer Rose reached the top of the iTunes all-genre chart with “Villain,” a moody breakup song that serves as a reminder that there are two sides to every story. But this year, the song got its push to country radio. In “Villain,” Rose is confident enough in her own feelings and the effort given to the relationship, that even though it ultimately fizzled, she’s willing to take the blame. “Whatever helps you sleep at night/ Yeah, you can make me the bad guy,” Rose sings on this track, which she co-wrote with Mackenzie Carpenter and Kyle Clark. As the lyrics about small-town rumors and tainted reputations swirl throughout the track, Rose’s smooth voice is the calm in the storm. Though Rose may have been unfairly painted as the “villain” in this breakup, she emerges as the victor with this song. — J.N.
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Keith Urban, "Wild Hearts"
More than 20 years after he became a star, Urban has a message for the “drifters” and the “dreamers” who have been told they will never amount to much — never, ever give up. He should know, he’s one of them. The intensely personal song — Urban recounts seeing Johnny Cash with his father when he was five, and a “godlike fire” within him being ignited thereafter — marries an inspiring message with an unstoppable melody, turning it into a joyous, defiant rallying cry. Incredible to think that Urban first passed on the song, written by Jennifer Wayne, Brad Tursi and Eric Paslay, until they sent him a version without a vocal and he was able to craft the autobiographical verses. — M.N.
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Lainey Wilson, "Things A Man Oughta Know"
In September, Wilson earned her first No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with this slice of hard-earned wisdom, grounded by Wilson’s warm, conversational vocal. Penned by Wilson along with Jonathan Singleton and Jason Nix, this track begins with a practical list of competencies Wilson says a man should possess — like catching a fish and changing a tire– before settling in on some weightier matters a man should have learned about, such as how to not take a good love for granted. As she is on this nuanced track, Wilson is a co-writer on every song from her debut major label album Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ — and “Things a Man Oughta Know” is likely just the first in a line of intelligently crafted hits from this singer-songwriter. — J.N.
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Chris Stapleton, "You Should Probably Leave"
Country’s most soulful troubadour paired with Chris DuBois and Ashley Gorley to pen this bluesy tale of a temptation that can’t be quenched. With his voice full of yearning and regret, Stapleton tries to fight the feeling as he and his paramour get closer and closer. There’s a glass of wine, a shared kiss and feeble attempts at stopping, but before you know it, it’s the morning after and Stapleton has flipped the switch and added a sexy twist to the song: After telling his lover she should probably leave all evening, after a night of passion he now fears she will be the one to say she should probably leave, when he so obviously wants her to stay. — M.N.
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Blake Shelton, "Bible Verses"
The theme of tension between the sins of Saturday night and the purity of Sunday morning has long been a mainstay in country music songwriting. Here, Shelton turns to three newcomer songwriters — Joe Fox, Andrew Peebles and Brett Sheroky — for this cleverly-written track that brings a fresh vulnerability to a timeworn topic. A previous Shelton track, 2016’s “Savior’s Shadow” (a Shelton co-write) also treaded in religious imagery. Where “Savior’s Shadow” radiated with conviction and comfort, “Bible Verses” captures a plea for grace in the battle against inner doubts and old habits. Shelton’s vocal conveys pent-up doubt, hope and regret, as the song builds to the gut-punch chorus, “I just want it to read like Bible verses/ and not the Bible versus me.” –J.N.
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Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, "Never Wanted To Be That Girl"
It’s hard to come up with new angles for a song about a classic love triangle, but Pearce and McBryde find them on this lush ballad they co-wrote with Shane McAnally. In the song, both women realize their shared man is unfaithful — McBryde thought he was single, Pearce misplaced her trust in him. But instead of devolving into a catfight over the undeserving fellow, they both look inward, full of sadness that they have each turned into something they never thought they would be: McBryde into a someone who sleeps with a married man and Pearce into someone who ignores the signs. “Being the other one, when there’s another one, God this feels like hell,” they both sing. Sure, it’s the cad’s fault, but they’re the ones left shattered. — M.N.
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Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley, "Freedom Was a Highway"
Allen and Paisley come together for this fond look back on growing up, “when the town was the whole world and love was the girl next door,” penned by Allen, Ash Bowers and Matt Rodgers. The mid-tempo, easygoing track goes down as smoothly as that first beer on a hot summer day — then shoots into warp speed courtesy of Paisley’s electrifying guitar solo. It captures a time most folks can wistfully relate to, when all of life lay ahead, full of nothing but possibilities and open roads.–M.N. -
Brothers Osborne, "Younger Me"
In February, Brothers Osborne member TJ Osborne publicly came out as gay — and soon after, penned “Younger Me” as a response to the outpouring of love and support he received. The song, written alongside his brother and bandmate John Osborne, as well as artist-writer Kendell Marvel, serves as a letter of assurance to TJ’s younger self. Though many of today’s country songs that revel in nostalgia focus on idyllic childhood moments, “Younger Me” recalls days filled with anxiety for someone “way too young to pace a bedroom floor.” The song serves as a beacon of hope for anyone whose early years are filled with doubt, fear, confusion, and just feeling different from those around them.
But more specifically, the song also serves as an anthem of sorts for members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as an essential message of inclusivity and acceptance in what has traditionally been one of music’s most conservative genres. Ultimately, “Younger Me” concludes with a gratitude for the hard-fought journey that brought TJ to a current moment of peace and joy, while still acknowledging the painful years it took for him to get there. The Recording Academy offered their own support in November, acknowledging the song with a nomination for best country duo/group performance at the upcoming Grammys. — J.N.