2025 in country music

Events

• January 20 – Carrie Underwood performs "America the Beautiful" during the swearing-in ceremony at the second inauguration of Donald Trump.
• March 3- Dolly Parton announces death of her husband
• March 19 – The Grand Ole Opry celebrated its 100th birthday with a concert special hosted by Blake Shelton which featured over 50 of the Opry's living members in attendance.
• March 31 – Canadian country singer Orville Peck makes his Broadway debut in Cabaret, taking over the role of the Emcee from Adam Lambert for a limited sixteen-show run at the August Wilson Theatre. Peck starred alongside two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada as Sally Bowles.
• April 25–27 – The 2025 edition of Stagecoach Festival takes place at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, featuring headline performances from Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll and Luke Combs. The festival also featured a special country set from Lana Del Rey, who had notably headlined Stagecoach's sister festival Coachella a year prior. Conversely, Post Malone, who performed his own special country set at Stagecoach in 2024, went on to headline Coachella in 2025. Shaboozey is unique in that he performed at both Coachella 2025 and Stagecoach 2025.
• April 26 – Steve Earle is invited to become the next List of [Grand Ole Opry members|member] of the Grand Ole Opry by Vince Gill. He was inducted on September 17 by Emmylou Harris.
• May 7 – Gretchen Wilson wins season thirteen of The Masked Singer as "Pearl". Fellow country singer Brian Kelley, who appeared as "Mad Scientist Monster" came fourth. Wilson became the second country singer to win the show following LeAnn Rimes as "Sun" during season four.
• June 8 – Conner Smith is involved in a car accident during which he struck Dorothy Dobbins, a 77-year-old woman who was crossing the sidewalk, and later died at the hospital.
• July 4 – Pat Green announces that his younger brother John, the latter's wife Julia, and their two youngest children were swept away during the Central Texas floods.
• August 9 – Kathy Mattea is invited to become the next member of the Grand Ole Opry by Charlie McCoy. She was officially inducted on October 11 by Terri Clark.
• August 11 – Jim Asker steps down as the senior editor of the Billboard country, gospel, and Christian music charts after holding the position for ten years.
• August 13 – George Strait is announced as one of the recipients of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.
• August 17 – Miranda Lambert and Parker McCollum's Band Together Texas concert raises over $8.5 million for flood relief. Alongside Lambert and McCollum, the event featured performances from Wade Bowen, Lyle Lovett, Ronnie Dunn, Cody Johnson, Lukas Nelson, Pat Green, Jon Randall, Jack Ingram, Randy Rogers, Ryan Bingham, and Jason Aldean, and appearances by Matthew McConaughey, Dennis Quaid, Mack Brown, Emmanuel Acho, Colt McCoy, Vince Young, Roger Clemens, Chris Harrison, and Kendra Scott.
• August 21 – Connie Smith celebrates her 60th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
• August 26 – Chapel Hart announces that they will be breaking up.
• September 18 – Hit songwriter Brett James is killed in a plane crash in North Carolina.
• September 30 – Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman announce their divorce after 19 years of marriage.
• October 7 – Vince Gill signs a lifetime record deal with long-time label MCA Records.
• October 8 – Alan Jackson announces his final concert at Nissan Stadium, scheduled for June 27, 2026. Special guests will include Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Riley Green, Cody Johnson and Lee Ann Womack.
• October 11 – Moments after her own induction, Kathy Mattea, alongside Terri Clark and Trisha Yearwood invites Suzy Bogguss to become the next member of the Grand Ole Opry. The quartet were performing Mattea's "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" when she interrupted her own song to surprise Bogguss with the invitation. It is the first time in Opry history than an induction and invitation have occurred in the same evening.
• October 13 – Reid Perry announces his departure from The Band Perry, leaving sister Kimberly Perry as the only original member remaining.
• October 30 – Carrie Underwood becomes the highest-certified female country artist of all time.
• November 5 – It is announced that CMT's "Hot 20 Countdown" hosted by Cody Alan will end in December after twelve years on air. It was the final original regular music show still airing on the channel and its cancellation follows the departure of many key staff members and productions since the channel was acquired by Paramount Skydance in June 2024.
• December 8 – Maddie & Tae announce their split after fifteen years as a duo.
• December 31 – Terri Clark is announced as a member of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour.

Top hits of the year

Top new album releases

Hall of Fame inductees

Country Music Hall of Fame">Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum">Country Music Hall of Fame

• Tony Brown
• June Carter Cash
• Kenny Chesney

[Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame]

• Lisa Brokop
• Joe Wood

[International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame]

• Hot Rize
• Bluegrass Cardinals
• Arnold Shultz

Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Trisha Yearwood

Kennedy Center Honors

• George Strait

Deaths

• January 1 – Chad Morgan, 91, Australian country singer and guitarist
• January 4 – Eddie London, 68, American country singer
• January 13 – Buck White, 94, American bluegrass instrumentalist, member of The Whites
• January 15 – Melba Montgomery, 86, American country singer
• January 24 – Buddy Brock, 72, American songwriter
• March 3- Carl Dean, 82, husband of Dolly Parton Passes away
• March 6 – Troy Seals, 86, American songwriter
• March 20 – Eddie Adcock, 86, American bluegrass banjo player
• March 29 – Dick Damron, 91, Canadian singer and songwriter
• April 1 – Johnny Tillotson, 86, American singer-songwriter of the 1960s
• April 16 – Mac Gayden, 83, American guitarist and songwriter
• April 22 – David Briggs, 82, American country keyboardist
• April 23 – Lulu Roman, 78, American comedian and singer
• May 9 – Johnny Rodriguez, 73, American country singer
• May 13 – Billy Earheart, 71, American country keyboardist
• June 19 – Gailard Sartain, 81, comedian and longtime cast member of Hee Haw
• July 18 – Helen Cornelius, 83, American country singer best known for the Jim Ed Brown duet "I Don't Want to Have to Marry You"
• July 26 – Sandy Pinkard, 78, songwriter and one-half of duo Pinkard & Bowden
• July 31 – Flaco Jiménez, 86, American musician
• August 1 – Jeannie Seely, 85, American singer
• September 4 – Robby Turner, 62, American pedal steel guitarist
• September 18 – Brett James, 57, American songwriter
• September 19 – Sonny Curtis, 88, American musician and songwriter and member of The Crickets
• November 2 – John Wesley Ryles, 74, American singer and session vocalist
• November 14 – Todd Snider, 59, American singer and songwriter
• November 19 – Walt Aldridge, 70, American songwriter and record producer
• December 8 – Raul Malo, 60, American singer, songwriter and lead singer of The Mavericks
• December 15 – Joe Ely, 78, American singer-songwriter
• December 25 – Stu Phillips, 92, Canadian-American country singer.