Country music is more popular than it’s ever been with Americans.
In recent years, plenty of new young stars have entered the scene and modernized the genre beyond its “songs about trucks” reputation.
And it seems the uptick in popularity is largely being led by millennials and Gen Z, who have driven up country music numbers on TikTok and streaming services.
But, you might be wondering, which artist is leading this trend?
Here at PennStakes.com, we’re taking a break from reviewing Pennsylvania sports betting to try and determine what country music singer is the most popular in the state.
To do so, PennStakes.com – also your source for PA online casinos – started with Billboard.com’s 2022 Top Country Artists year-end list of the Top 50 country music artists. We then utilized Google Trends to find the most popular country music artists in the state of Pennsylvania over the past 12 months (June 2022-June 2023).
But before we go on any further, we should say that, despite being born in Pennsylvania, Taylor Swift is not featured on our list. Taylor grew up in the Reading before moving to Nashville at 14 to pursue a career in country music.
However, she’s largely left the genre behind, and is therefore not eligible for our list below.
The No. 1 most popular country singer in Pennsylvania is Morgan Wallen. After a stint on “The Voice” in 2014, Wallen has been growing steadily in popularity. His latest album, “One Thing at a Time” — a goliath 36-track release — stormed the Billboard charts earlier this year, spending 12 weeks at the No. 1 spot following its March 3 debut. It also received 498.28 million streams in its first week.
Fans in Pennsylvania can catch Wallen live later this year when he headlines back-to-back shows at PNC Park on Aug. 30 and 31.
Luke Combs rates out as the state’s second most popular country music artist. He broke out from the Nashville scene in 2017 with the country radio hit “Hurricane.” Since then, Combs has produced a string of catchy and relatable singles like “Beer Never Broke My Heart” and “When It Rains It Pours.” A two-time winner of the Country Music Association (CMA)’s Entertainer of the Year award, Combs will embark on his first world tour later this year.
At No. 3 on our list of the most popular country singers in Pennsylvania is Zach Bryan, whose success came after he uploaded a video performing an original song on YouTube and it went viral in 2017. Last year Zach catapulted to the next level with his track “Something in the Orange,” which spent 58 weeks on the billboard charts and helped him win New Male Artist of the Year at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards.
Tied at fourth on our list are a pair of iconic female country artists — Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood.
Hailing from north of the border in Windsor, Ontario, Shania was the “it” girl of ‘90s country music, dominating both pop and country radio with hits like “You’re Still the One” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”
Carrie Underwood also enjoyed a stretch as country music’s biggest female artist in the early-2000s when she won the fourth season of “American Idol.”
Kelsea Ballerini rounds out our list. Ballerini signed her first record deal at 19. The sensation from Knoxville, Tenn., has been a mainstay on the country music airwaves since the release of her debut album “The First Time” in 2015.
PennStakes.com occasionally does stories of cultural interest such as this and always has updated info on PA online slots.
Author
Jeff Parker is an entertainment writer for PennStakes.com. A writer for film, television and the internet, Jeff is a life long movie buff, with a Masters Degree in Popular Culture. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he works full time as documentary filmmaker and producer.
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