Country Music Month is here, and for anyone who has ever argued over which artist truly ruled the charts or wondered how a songwriter like Ashley Gorley climbed to the top, Record Research Inc. has just dropped the definitive reference work. The company, known for its obsessive accuracy across more than 125 years of music industry data, has released “Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025,” a 640-page hardcover that leaves no stone unturned in country music history.
This isn’t just a list of hits. The book catalogs every single song that ever appeared on the country singles charts, starting with the debut of the Most-Played Juke Box Folk Records chart in 1944 and running all the way through the last Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts of 2025. Each entry is organized artist-by-artist, and the volume includes a comprehensive title index, multiple rankings for songs and artists, and a week-by-week chronicle of every number-one country hit.
The response from industry insiders has been telling. Country Insider highlighted the most significant new addition: a songwriter section, the first of its kind in the series. It identifies the 40 all-time top country songwriters based on chart performance, listing each writer’s complete catalog of Top 40 hits with debut dates, peak positions, weeks charted, labels, and recording artists. Billboard Country Update noted that modern songwriters Ashley Gorley and Shane McAnally ranked number one and two, respectively, in Record Research’s inaugural study of the Top Country Songwriters 1944-2025. The publication explained that Gorley and McAnally benefit from both longevity and volume—each has had their name in parentheses on the country charts consistently for more than 15 years—but also from their era. The study weights Billboard‘s Country Airplay charts more heavily than the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart, though the latter still allows more titles to burst into public consciousness for short windows through streaming data.
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As Music Connection put it: “We at MC are nerds when it comes to these lists, packed with facts, figures and microscopic information. We’d wager plenty of our readers are too.“
For the data-obsessed, the book is a goldmine. Each song entry includes the date it first charted, its highest position, weeks on the chart, sales certification where applicable, songwriter credits, the B-side when available, its highest position on the pop charts if it crossed over, whether a picture sleeve was issued, and the record label and catalog number. A new Songwriter Section honors country’s legendary Top 40 DJ Bob Kingsley, featuring short bios and award listings for each of the 40 top songwriters, followed by a chronological listing of their Top 40 hits with complete chart data and the recording artists who charted with them.
The research covers both the Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts from 2012 through 2026. If a song appeared on both charts, the Country Airplay data—debut date, peak position, and weeks charted—is listed with a notation of its peak on the Hot Country Songs chart. Songs exclusive to the Hot Country Songs chart are listed with full data and a special star symbol for easy identification. A Song Title Section lists every song alphabetically with its artist, peak position, and year of peak. The Artist Rankings Section includes the top 300 all-time artists, top 50 of each decade, top artist achievements, and a bio with a full listing of all charted songs. The Song Rankings Section covers the top 100 hits of all time and the top 25 hits of each decade. Additionally, the book chronologically lists CMA and ACM Single and Song of the Year winners, Country Music Hall of Fame inductees, and every number-one hit week by week from 1944 through 2025.
Record Research Inc is making “Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025” available now directly from the publisher and through major retailers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Published in June 2026, the hardcover runs 640 pages and costs $99.95 plus shipping and handling. Upcoming titles include three new editions of the “Across the Charts” series for the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, all available for pre-order now at https://recordresearch.com/shop. Other available titles include the “Pop Annual 1950-2023,” “Rock Tracks 1981-2020,” “Across The Charts: The 1960s,” “Billboard Best Sellers & Hot 100 Charts: The 1950s,” and more.
Why it matters: For anyone who follows country music—whether as a fan, a historian, or an industry professional—this book is the closest thing to a complete, verified archive of the genre’s chart history. By adding songwriter rankings for the first time, Record Research shifts the spotlight from just the performers to the writers who have shaped the sound of country music across eight decades, offering a new way to understand who really drives the hits.
Laurie Jakobsen
Jaybird Communications
+1 917-697-2274
