Country Music Popularity Increases By 67% In The UK

Country music is experiencing an epic renaissance in the UK, with the genre growing in popularity by 67% in 2024.

The surge is led by the ultra-successful hits that have climbed up the UK charts, including I Had Some Help by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, TEXAS HOLD ‘EM by Beyoncé, Austin by Dasha, and the current UK #3 single, A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey.

According to a new report by Official Charts, country singles in the UK are at 11.5 million streams and counting, compared to 6.9 million for 2023 in the same period (21 weeks).

In addition to that statistic, country songs – not just the big singles – have racked up 1.3 billion streams in the UK, which marks a 63% increase on the 800.1 million streams country songs amassed throughout the same period in 2023. Country albums have seen massive success in the UK this year, gaining a 29% increase in year-to-date streams (846,000 in 2023 versus 1.1 million in 2024).

Of course, the year is still young—there will be more country hits that dominate the charts in the UK. Lana Del Rey is set to release a country album this year. With another mainstream artist preparing to take over country, who knows what the remainder of 2024 will hold?

In 2023, just five country songs cracked onto the UK Official Charts: I Remember Everything by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves, Rich Men North Of Richmond by Oliver Anthony, Last Night by Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs’ take on Fast Car, and Noah Kahan’s Dial Drunk.

Seven country songs have already landed on the Official Chart Top 40 this year, and we’re only five months into the year. Beyoncé’s TEXAS HOLD ‘EM (#1), JOLENE (#8) and II MOST WANTED with Miley Cyrus (#9) lead the charge, with I Had Some Help peaking at #2, A Bar Song (Tipsy) at #3, Austin at #7, and I Remember Everything returning for a #14 chart (compared to #19 last year).

Martin Talbot, the Chief Executive of Official Charts, said of the apparent new trend: “The explosion of country music in the UK this year is a reflection of the growing interest in guitar and story-telling music over recent years, spanning country, Americana, folk and roots.

“Beyoncé is undoubtedly this year’s queen of country (claiming Number 1 in the Official Singles and Albums Charts earlier this year with Texas Hold ‘Em and Cowboy Carter) – but she really does represent the tip of an iceberg, as the latest offerings involving Dasha, Shaboozey, Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, and many others indicate.”

Country music is also booming in Australia.

According to Luminate’s 2023 Mid-Year Report of music listeners’ habits, Australia is the third-biggest market for country music and second largest if you remove the US, sitting behind Canada.

What’s truly astounding, though, is the number of times Aussies consume country music. The report found that from the beginning of the year to 29 June 2023, Australians streamed artists in the Top 500 US Country Songs over 1.1 billion times.