Top Country Artists 1944-2012

Eddy Arnold #1 Country Artist
Eddy Arnold #1 Country Artist

Do you know which country artist has the most #1 hits of all-time? Do you know which country artist has the most charted singles? This is where the top country artists from 1944-2012 can help provide you with the answer.

Did you know that 49 artists have charted 50 or more singles on the country charts. Only 20 pop artists and 16 R&B artists have matched that number on their respective chart rankings.

Close to 1,900 artists have charted country hits since 1944. Only Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow and Hank Thompson are among the five artists who have had country hits in all five decades! Also, some of the Country & Western artists who had the most top 40 and top 10 hits, most charted singles, and the most weeks at the #1 position.

There were a total of 1,690 singles that charted at the #1 position during this period. The years of 1985 and 1986 each had 51 singles peak at the #1 position and the year of 1960 had the least number of #1 songs with 4. The record of longevity was “Bouquet Of Roses” recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1948, was on the charts for 54 weeks.

George Jones #2 Country Artist
George Jones #2 Country Artist

Point System Used For Compiling The Top 100 Artists

Artist’s points are calculated using the following formula:

Each artist’s charted records are awarded points based on their highest position:

  1. #1         = 100 points for its first week at #1, plus 10 points for each additional week at #1
  2. #2         = 90  points for its first week at #2, plus 5 points for each additional week at #2
  3. #3         = 80  points for its first week at #3, plus 3 points for each additional week at #3
  4. # 4-5    = 70 points
  5. # 6-10  = 60 points
  6. #11-15  = 55 points
  7. #16-20 = 50 points
  8. #21-30 = 45 points
  9. #31-40 = 40 points
  10. #41-50 = 35 points
  11. #51-60 = 30 points
  12. #61-70 = 25 points
  13. #71-80 = 20 points
  14. #81-90 = 15 points
  15. #91-100 = 10 points
  16. Total weeks charted are added in.

Ties are broken as follows:

1) Most Charted Singles 2) Most Top 40 Singles 3) Most Top 10 Singles

When two artists combine for a hit record their chart points are shared equally. With this information, we now can rank the top 100 Country & Western artists.

Source: Joel Whitburn’s “Top Country Singles 1944-2012“.

The Top 100 Artists 1944-2012

Top 100 Country Artists 1944-2012
Rank Artist Points
1 Eddy Arnold 12,667
2 George Jones 11,976
3 George Strait 11,006
4 Johnny Cash 9,449
5 Conway Twitty 9,101
6 Merle Haggard 9,058
7 Reba McEntire 8,353
8 Dolly Parton 8,277
9 Webb Pierce 7,975
10 Willie Nelson 7,888
11 Ray Price 7,773
12 Buck Owens 7,492
13 Marty Robbins 7,306
14 Alan Jackson 7,295
15 Hank Williams Jr. 7,244
16 Waylon Jennings 7,232
17 Alabama 7,136
18 Tim McGraw 6,855
19 Jim Reeves 6,843
20 Kenny Chesney 6,577
21 Ernest Tubb 6,474
22 Charley Pride 6,422
23 Loretta Lynn 6,316
24 Toby Keith 6,272
25 Sonny James 6,205
26 Garth Brooks 6,163
27 Faron Young 6,115
28 Hank Snow 6,088
29 Ronnie Milsap 6,025
30 Kenny Rogers 6,014
31 Carl Smith 5,901
32 Tammy Wynette 5,836
33 Brooks & Dunn 5,641
34 Bill Anderson 5,621
35 Mel Tillis 5,385
36 Tanya Tucker 5,339
37 Red Foley 5,326
38 Elvis Presley 5,276
39 Porter Wagoner 5,237
40 Don Williams 5,211
41 Kitty Wells 5,134
42 Don Gibson 5,090
43 Glen Campbell 4,971
44 The Statler Brothers 4,828
45 Hank Thompson 4,813
46 Steve Wariner 4,680
47 Vince Gill 4,545
48 Crystal Gayle 4,522
49 Clint Black 4,492
50 Randy Travis 4,424
51 Hank Williams 4,395
52 Jerry Lee Lewis 4,365
53 Martina McBride 4,256
54 David Houston 4,250
55 Bobby Bare 4,235
56 Barbara Manderell 4,217
57 Oak ridge Boys 4,217
58 Mickey Gilley 4,076
59 Lynn Anderson 4,021
60 Rascal Flatts 4,005
61 Brad Paisley 3,995
62 Eddie Rabbitt 3,990
63 Anne Murray 3,901
64 Joe Stampley 3,866
65 Dottie West 3,858
66 John Anderson 3,810
67 Emmylou Harris 3,801
68 T.G. Sheppard 3,746
69 Travis Tritt 3,682
70 Faith Hill 3,679
71 Keith Urban 3,643
72 Sawyer Brown 3,608
73 Bellamy Brothers 3,563
74 Moe Bandy 3,537
75 Tom T. Hall 3,536
76 Billy Walker 3,493
77 Earl Thomas Conley 3,482
78 Patty loveless 3,460
79 Ferlin Husky 3,355
80 Trisha Yearwood 3,303
81 Johnny Paycheck 3,266
82 Gene Watson 3,247
83 Connie Smith 3,218
84 Mark Chesnutt 3,217
85 Freddie Hart 3,209
86 Tracy Lawrence 3,151
87 Johnny Rodriguez 3,145
88 Jerry Reed 3,116
89 Charlie Rich 3,084
90 John Michael Montgomery 3,084
91 Clay Walker 3,054
92 Lonestar 3,045
93 Larry Gatlin 3,031
94 Janie Fricke 2,993
95 Jim Ed Brown 2,963
96 Lefty Frizzell 2,945
97 Ricky Skaggs 2,943
98 Diamond Rio 2,938
99 Trace Adkins 2,929
100 Joe Diffie 2,911
Johnny Cash #3 Country Artist
Johnny Cash #3 Country Artist

Most Charted Singles

Most Charted Hits
Rank Artist No.
1 George Jones 168
2 Eddy Arnold 146
3 Johnny Cash 135
4 Willie Nelson 118
5 George Strait 117
6 Dolly Parton 111
7 Ray Price 109
8 Hank Williams Jr. 108
9 Merle Haggard 105
10 Reba McEntire 99

Most #1 Hits

Most #1 Hits
Rank Artist No.
1 George Strait 44
2 Conway Twitty 40
3 Merle Haggard 38
4 Ronnie Milsap 35
5 Alabama 33
6 Charley Pride 29
7 Eddy Arnold 28
8 Dolly Parton 25
9 Alan Jackson 25
10 Reba McEntire 24

Most Top 40 Hits

Most Top 40 Hits
Rank Artist No.
1 George Jones 143
2 Eddy Arnold 126
3 Johnny Cash 98
4 George Strait 96
5 Dolly Parton 87
6 Conway Twitty 85
7 Reba McEntire 85
8 Merle Haggard 83
9 Ernest Tubb 82
10 Marty Robbins 81

Most Top Ten Hits

Most Top 10 Hits
Rank Artist No.
1 Eddy Arnold 92
2 George Strait 84
3 George Jones 78
4 Conway Twitty 75
5 Merle Haggard 71
6 Reba McEntire 59
7 Ernest Tubb 58
8 Red Foley 56
9 Dolly Parton 55
10 Webb Pierce 54

Most Weeks At #1

Most Weeks At #1
Rank Artist No.
1 Eddy Arnold 145
2 Webb Pierce 111
3 George Strait 84
4 Buck Owens 82
5 Hank Williams 82
6 Tim McGraw 69
7 Johnny Cash 68
8 Kenny Chesney 68
9 Sonny James 66
10 Marty Robbins 63

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