Name a country music artist

The rarest possible answer — almost no player finds it.

• DeFord Bailey— Opry's first Black star, quietly dropped from the show in 1941.
• Jimmie Rodgers— Called the Father of Country Music; died days after his last session.

Genuinely obscure. Most players never think of it.

• Aaron Lewis
• Aaron Tippin
• Ashley McBryde
• Barbara Mandrell
• Big & Rich
• Bill Anderson
• Bill Monroe— Invented bluegrass, which country claims on days like this.
• Billy Currington
• Billy Strings— Bluegrass by genre, but he sells out arenas doing it.
• Blanco Brown
• Bob Wills
• Brantley Gilbert
• Breland
• Brenda Lee
• Brett Young
• Buck Owens
• Carly Pearce
• Chappell Roan— Her single The Giver opened atop Hot Country Songs.
• Charley Crockett
• Charley Pride— RCA hid his race from early singles to get country airplay.
• Charlie Rich
• Chase Matthew
• Chase Rice
• Chayce Beckham
• Chet Atkins
• Chris Janson
• Chris LeDoux
• Chris Young
• Clay Walker
• Clint Black
• Cody Jinks
• Cole Swindell
• Collin Raye
• Colter Wall
• Connie Smith
• Conway Twitty
• Craig Morgan
• Crystal Gayle
• Dasha
• David Allan Coe
• Deana Carter
• Diamond Rio
• Don Williams
• Dustin Lynch
• Dylan Scott
• Eddie Rabbitt
• Eddy Arnold
• Emmylou Harris
• Ernest
• Ernest Tubb
• Gabby Barrett
• Gary Allan
• Gavin Adcock
• Gene Autry
• Gram Parsons
• Gretchen Wilson
• Hailey Whitters
• Hank Snow
• Hank Williams III
• Hudson Westbrook
• Hunter Hayes
• Jake Owen
• Jamey Johnson
• Jason Isbell
• Jerry Lee Lewis— Spent his later decades as a straight country hitmaker.
• Jerry Reed
• Jessi Colter
• Jessie Murph
• Jim Reeves
• Jimmie Allen
• Jimmy Buffett— It's Five O'Clock Somewhere topped the country chart for eight weeks.
• Jo Dee Messina
• Joe Diffie
• John Michael Montgomery
• John Prine
• Johnny Horton
• Johnny Paycheck
• Josh Ross
• Josh Turner
• Juice Newton
• Justin Moore
• k.d. lang
• Kameron Marlowe
• Kathy Mattea
• Keith Whitley
• Kid Rock— Picture, his duet with Sheryl Crow, cracked country's top five.
• Kiefer Sutherland— Between acting jobs he tours a genuine country act.
• Kip Moore
• Kitty Wells
• Koe Wetzel
• Larry Gatlin
• Lauren Alaina
• Lee Ann Womack
• Lefty Frizzell
• Linda Ronstadt
• Little Jimmy Dickens
• Lonestar
• Lorrie Morgan
• Lucinda Williams
• Lyle Lovett
• Lynn Anderson
• Margo Price
• Mark Chesnutt
• Marty Robbins
• Marty Stuart
• Mel Tillis
• Mickey Gilley
• Mickey Guyton
• Mitchell Tenpenny
• Montgomery Gentry
• Nate Smith
• Neal McCoy
• Old Crow Medicine Show— Their Wagon Wheel grew from a Bob Dylan sketch.
• Olivia Newton-John— Her 1974 CMA award made Nashville traditionalists form a protest group.
• Orville Peck
• Pam Tillis
• Parker McCollum
• Parmalee
• Patty Loveless
• Porter Wagoner
• Priscilla Block
• Randy Houser
• Ray Charles— Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was 1962's landmark crossover.
• Ray Price
• Ricky Skaggs
• Ricky Van Shelton
• Rodney Atkins
• Roger Miller
• Ronnie Milsap
• Rosanne Cash
• Roy Acuff
• Roy Clark
• Roy Rogers
• Russell Dickerson
• Ryan Bingham
• Sara Evans
• Scotty McCreery
• Sierra Ferrell
• Slim Dusty
• Steve Earle
• Sturgill Simpson
• Suzy Bogguss
• Tammy Wynette
• Tanya Tucker
• Tennessee Ernie Ford
• Terri Clark
• The Band Perry
• The Highwaymen
• The Red Clay Strays
• The Statler Brothers
• Tom T. Hall
• Townes Van Zandt
• Trace Adkins
• Tracy Byrd
• Tracy Lawrence
• Travis Tritt
• Tucker Wetmore
• Turnpike Troubadours
• Tyler Hubbard
• Warren Zeiders
• Whiskey Myers
• Wyatt Flores

Uncommon — only a minority of players land here.

• Alabama
• Alison Krauss
• Anne Murray
• Bailey Zimmerman
• Brooks & Dunn
• Brothers Osborne
• Charlie Daniels
• Cody Johnson
• Dan + Shay
• Dwight Yoakam
• Ella Langley
• Elvis Presley— Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Eric Church
• George Jones
• Glen Campbell
• Hank Williams Jr.— He asked if you were ready for some football.
• Hardy
• John Denver— CMA Entertainer of the Year, 1975, over Nashville's loud objections.
• Jon Pardi
• Jordan Davis
• Kane Brown
• Kelsea Ballerini
• Kris Kristofferson
• Lady A
• LeAnn Rimes
• Lee Greenwood
• Little Big Town
• Maren Morris
• Martina McBride
• Megan Moroney
• Merle Haggard
• Oak Ridge Boys
• Old Dominion
• Oliver Anthony— Rich Men North of Richmond debuted straight at Hot 100 number one.
• Patsy Cline
• Randy Travis
• Riley Green
• Sam Hunt
• Shaboozey
• Sugarland
• The Chicks
• The Judds
• Thomas Rhett
• Trisha Yearwood
• Tyler Childers
• Vince Gill
• Walker Hayes
• Waylon Jennings
• Wynonna Judd
• Zach Top

A solid, middling pick shared with plenty of other players.

• Alan Jackson
• Billy Ray Cyrus
• Brad Paisley
• Chris Stapleton
• Darius Rucker
• Dierks Bentley
• Faith Hill
• Florida Georgia Line
• George Strait
• Hank Williams
• Jason Aldean
• Jelly Roll
• Kacey Musgraves
• Keith Urban
• Kenny Chesney
• Kenny Rogers
• Lainey Wilson
• Loretta Lynn
• Luke Bryan
• Luke Combs
• Miranda Lambert
• Post Malone— F-1 Trillion, his 2024 album, is genuinely a country record.
• Rascal Flatts
• Reba McEntire
• Tim McGraw
• Toby Keith
• Zac Brown Band
• Zach Bryan

An overthought pick that scores below the middle of the board.

• Beyoncé— Cowboy Carter made her the first Black woman atop the country chart.
• Lil Nas X— Billboard evicted Old Town Road from the country chart; we will not.
• Taylor Swift— Won 2009's CMA Entertainer of the Year before ever going pop.

The most common answer on the board.

• Blake Shelton
• Carrie Underwood
• Dolly Parton
• Garth Brooks
• Johnny Cash
• Morgan Wallen
• Shania Twain
• Willie Nelson