See also: 1989 in country music, 1990 in music, other events of 1990, 1991 in country music, 1990s in music and the List of years in Country Music
Events
- January 20 – Billboard magazine begins basing the Hot Country Singles chart entirely on radio airplay through Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), which uses a computerized system to detect actual airplay. The number of chart positions is reduced from 100 to 75. The new system has an immediate effect on how long the year's biggest songs stay at No. 1:
- February 3 – "Nobody's Home" by Clint Black becomes the first three-week No. 1 since Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen" in 1987.
- April 7 – Travis' "Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart" breaks the four-week barrier, the first since 1978's "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
- July 7 – "Love Without End, Amen" by George Strait is Billboard's first five-week No. 1 song, matching 1977's "Here You Come Again" by Dolly Parton. Incidentally, "Love Without End, Amen" is Strait's first multi-week chart-topper, after his first 18 No. 1s had spent just a week on top.
- Just 23 songs would reach the chart's summit in 1990, 13 of them multi-weekers; this was less than half the number that reached the top of the chart a year earlier, and the fewest since 1972.
- February 17 – Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart is retitled "Hot Country Singles & Tracks," reflecting the growing number of radio-popular songs that were not released commercially as singles.
No dates
- The release of Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection continues a trend toward issuing chronicling the genre's history via compact disc during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Time-Life Music's Country USA series continued to issue new albums, while Columbia Records issues its five-volume Country Classics series during the summer. Rhino Records also releases ten volumes of Billboard Top Country Singles, each depicting the top 10 songs from the years 1959 through 1968.
Top hits of the year
Number one hits
(as certified by Billboard magazine)
- 1 - No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard magazine.
- A - First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
- B - Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.
Other major hits
Top new album releases
Other top albums
On television
Regular series
Specials
Deaths
Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees
Major Awards
Grammy awards
- Best Female Country Vocal Performance -- "Where've You Been," Kathy Mattea
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance -- "When I Call Your Name," Vince Gill
- Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal -- Pickin' on Nashville, The Kentucky Headhunters
- Best Country Collaboration With Vocals -- "Poor Boy Blues," Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler
- Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "So Soft, Your Goodbye," Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler
- Best Country Song -- "Where've You Been," Don Henry and Jon Vesner
- Best Bluegrass Recording -- "I've Got That Old Feeling," Alison Krauss
Academy of Country Music
Country Music Association
Further reading
- Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
- Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
- Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.
Other links
External links
