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Country music has almost never been as popular as it is in 2025.
After notching eight entries atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart since March of 2023 – and accounting for nearly 50 weeks atop the survey collectively – it's apparent that the genre that was once a distinct outlier in the musical arena has been ushered into the mainstream in a big way.
While the format boasts a vast collection of superstars and hitmakers already, recent years have seen a number of artists from outside the fold eyeing up their own slice of country music real estate.
Most notably, 2024 saw a wave of these artists dip their toe – or in some cases dive head first – into the country waters, including pop and R&B powerhouse Beyoncé and rap maverick Post Malone, both of whom released acclaimed records in the calendar year, as well as indie pop royalty Lana Del Rey, who has been hinting at a southern-singed project for much of the last year.
As the calendar flips over to a new year, we here at Holler have been considering what other artists might become the newest country converts.
Taking all of the evidence and receipts into account, here are Holler's 12 artists that could – and maybe should – go country in 2025.
Miley Cyrus
It’s no surprise that pop artist Miley Cyrus has long been a country dabbler.
The daughter of ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ star Billy Ray Cyrus and goddaughter of the one and only Dolly Parton, the ‘Wrecking Ball’ vocalist has flirted with the genre for years, covering country classics like her godmother’s ‘Jolene’ and infusing some of her infectious hits with a delightful twang.
However, when she guested on COWBOY CARTER, Beyoncé’s recent country foray, it perked ears to just how well-suited Cyrus’ voice is to the country sound. Her graveled lilt on ’II MOST WANTED’ was the perfect accompaniment to the subdued acoustic number, leaving us ravenous for her own country collection.
Will we see Miley Cyrus go country in 2025? Here’s hoping.
- Alli Patton
Nickelback
Over the last few years, have you glanced at a country festival lineup or two and thought, "Nickelback? Really?!"
That's right, Chad and the lads have been topping country festival bills for a while now, rubbing shoulders with HARDY, Luke Combs and even Morgan Wallen.
While country and rock have never avoided one another, a particular area of the country music scene today embraces both the early 2000s Nu-Metal bleakness of Limp Bizkit and Slipknot (Yo HARDY!) and the late 90s, WWE-soundtracking downer-rock of Creed and Stained (YO, HARDY!), creating something all-together heavier than the southern rock you'd come to expect from country expats.
Nickelback found their home in the middle of this heavy dreariness in their early days. So it would feel more than right for them to get out the mixing pot and combine a little of both – the acoustic amble of their All The Right Reasons era was born to have a little pedal steel on it.
At the same time, there's no doubt HARDY, Dylan Marlowe or even Bailey Zimmerman would step up to the plate to collaborate on a Drop-D chugger from yesteryear.
But who would produce? There's only one man that could.
Joey Moi. Before becoming the head producer and brains behind Big Loud Records – home to Wallen, HARDY and FGL – Moi was at the desk, producing Gold and Platinum records in the early 2000s of a particular Canadian band called – yep, you guessed it – Nickelback.
It writes itself.
- Ross Jones
Chappell Roan
If Chappell Roan going country isn't on your 2025 bingo card, then you might as well be getting the night bus home empty handed.
In fact, Roan has already arguably gone country. Her performance of the unreleased song 'The Giver' on SNL in November 2024 was a raucous slice of fiddlin' '70s soft country funk that would have given Mary Kay Place a run for her money back in her hey day.
Performing in front of an old western TV set that looked, Roan channelled the Hee Haw Honeys in a pink, Gingham two-piece shorts set and matching cowboy boots as she belted out the upbeat country dance floor filler.
"All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right, well only a woman knows how to treat a woman right / She gets the job done," she sang as she brought a little LGBTQIA+ to C&W.
When she referred to the track during an interview with Rolling Stone last year about her sophomore album, she indicated it might be one of a variety of genres she's dipping her toes into. "We have a country song. We have a dancy song. We have one that’s really ’80s, and we have one that’s acoustic, and we have one that’s really organic, live band, ’70s vibe. It’s super weird,” she offered.
Perhaps it's too early to know if this foray into country is a one-off, but even if 'The Giver' is all we get, then it's good enough for us.
- Jof Owen
Teddy Swims
Teddy Swims has flirted with country music throughout his career, but it seems he’s been dipping his toes into the Music City scene more in recent months.
One of the most important qualities of a great country artist is having a distinctive voice and, as his soulful, infectious collaboration with Thomas Rhett, ‘Somethin’ Bout a Woman’, showcases, Swims has an unmistakable, charismatic rasp that would sound fantastic alongside the forlorn cry of a steel guitar.
Swims tends to lean towards a more bluesy, R&B-infused aesthetic, and the ‘Lose Control’ hitmaker has delivered a stellar rendition of ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ in the past.
After dropping his new album later this January, we’d love to see Teddy Swims craft a country record full of rhythmic, Stapleton-esque jams.
- Maxim Mower
Sabrina Carpenter
Few artists in the world are having as momentous or impactful a time in popular culture as pop megastar Sabrina Carpenter.
With her 2024 album, Short 'N Sweet, Carpenter laid out the blueprint of what a pop album could sound like not just for the year, but perhaps a few more to come. Now, placed subtly amongst the energy-drink buzz of 'Espresso' and sultry allure of 'Bed Chem' was a dry-wit, tongue-firmly-in-cheek country song entitled 'Slim Pickins'.
'Slim Pickins' finds Carpenter tired of the idiot cowboys she's surrounded by, noting how there's a small amount of fish in the sea to choose from. Unlike the rest of the record, lilting acoustic guitar and melancholic pedal steel do the heavy lifting, gifting us a song that wouldn't go amiss on Willow Avalon's forthcoming debut or even Kacey Musgraves' early work.
We'd love to see Carpenter explore this side of her songwriting more and, honestly, what better time?
Musgraves gently nudged her along on the Espresso Tour with a playful cover together of Nancy Sinatra's 'These Boots Are Made For Walking', and don't even get us started on that NPR Tiny Desk Concert.
Sabrina Carpenter's hinting at something a little yeehaw, and we're all here for it.
- RJ
P!nk
Pop music's high-flying, aerial spinning, trapeze traipsing queen has been a go-to collaborator for country artists for the last few years.
Dating back to her stunning duet with Kenny Chesney in 2017, 'Setting the World On Fire,' the Pennsylvania native has teamed up with a string of country and alternative hitmakers over the years, including Keith Urban ('One Too Many'), The Lumineers ('Long Way to Go'), a feature on Dolly Parton's rock covers album alongside Brandi Carlile and a pair of duets with Chris Stapleton – 2019's 'Love Me Anyway' and 2023's 'Just Say I'm Sorry.'
Coupled with these receipts of her flirtation with the country community in the studio is the fact that on her two-year-long, globe spanning touring odyssey, The Summer Carnival, which kept her busy across 2023 and 2024, she had none other than Americana's golden girl, Brandi Carlile, as support.
Given all the evidence here, P!nk has a pretty reputable resumé for a country conversion compared to some who even last year tipped their hat to the genre, as she's also made a handful of appearances across country award shows over the last few years.
Admittedly, this writer is one of P!nk's biggest fans, so perhaps this is just wishful thinking. However, since 2017, the 'So What' chart-topper has been on a two-year album cycle and, last we checked, her last project came out in 2023 (you should go listen to it).
If history should repeat itself, that means that we're poised on the precipice of a new P!nk record at some point in 2025, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that this new era ushers in some sizzling southern sensibility.
- Lydia Farthing
HARDY
This might seem like a peculiar inclusion in this list, given the fact that HARDY stormed onto the scene back in 2019 with his delightfully, unashamedly country opus, HIXTAPE, Vol. 1.
The Mississippi native remains a staple of the Nashville songwriting scene, penning some of the biggest country hits of the past few years, with his collaborative relationship with Morgan Wallen and ERNEST continuing to shape the direction of the genre. However, since 2023’s the mockingbird & THE CROW, HARDY has ventured further and further into the rock and metal worlds, with his 2024 project, Quit!!, seeing the ‘wait in the truck’ chart-topper eschewing country altogether.
While we undoubtedly admire HARDY’s innovation and his willingness to experiment, his country lyricism, wit and ear for a killer melody is unrivaled, and we long to hear him return to the genre this year.
Just this week, HARDY teased that his next project features a track called ‘Buck On The Wall’, which certainly sounds like a country song. Here’s hoping we’re about to get a whole album of them.
- MM
Dua Lipa
Apart from appearing with Chris Stapleton at the ACM Awards for a special rendition of his song 'Think I’m In Love With You,' pop superstar Dua Lipa hasn't actually shown many signs of "going country" but she did go to Austin, Texas, for a couple of weeks last year and that's usually all it takes for most pop artists to buy a Resistol, a pair of Luchesses and discover a hitherto unknown ancestral twang in their voice these days.
Performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival in October last year, the English and Albanian singer took time out to acquaint herself with the local cuisine, stopping off at La Barbecue for a family style meal of brisket, pork ribs, sausages and sides – where she shared her own cocktail concoction of Coca Cola, pickle juice and jalapeno juice in a since viral video – and Mexican seafood restaurant Este. She also took time out to go boot shopping and enjoy a show from her old duet partner Stapleton while she was there.
It was after her Saturday night performance at ACL that Dua Lipa made us really start to wonder if a country crossover might be on the cards for her.
Appearing at the South Lamar honky-tonk Broken Spoke, the singer captured some moments and shared them on social media with the caption, "HONKY TONK HEAVEN," while in a couple of other clip, she was shown two-stepping with a man on the dance floor. The last photo of her and a small group huddled in the famous bathroom covered in photographs of George Strait, singing Josh Turner's 'Your Man,' had us convinced that all it's going to take is for her to bump into Blake Shelton in the lift at Warner Records and she'll be singing at the Grand Ole Opry before we know it.
- JO
Creed
What can we say? The kids love Creed.
Seriously, with the long-satirized ‘90s alt-rock band seeing a resurgence amongst Gen-Z, we’d loved to see a country tune or two from the ‘My Sacrifice’ legends.
Why? Well, why not? Everyone else seems to be hitching a ride on the twang train, so why can’t Scott Stapp and company?
They’re already known for their deeply vulnerable, emotionally-driven songs. That’s the backbone of any great country number; and we at Holler think Creed and country just make sense.
- AP
Ed Sheeran
One of the most prolific and ubiquitous songwriters in modern music, Ed Sheeran, has already penned hits for the likes of Kenny Chesney (‘Tip Of My Tongue’), Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (‘The Rest Of Our Life’) and Keith Urban (‘Parallel Line’).
Sheeran famously joined forces with his good buddy, Luke Combs, for a stunning take on his 2023 ballad, ‘Life Goes On’, at the 2023 CMA Awards, and he dropped the fiery, southern rock anthem, ‘BLOW’, with Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars back in 2019. The British crooner also admits that he loves listening to country radio when relaxing at home, and we think it’s about time he made a more full-blooded foray into Nashville.
Nobody can write a love-song like Sheeran, with ‘Perfect’ still one of the most popular first-dance songs at weddings, and a sweet, endearing record packed with odes to his wife would go down a treat with country listeners.
Sheeran has now completed his Mathematics-themed discography, so he’s most likely looking for a new challenge – perhaps it’s time to reach for his Stetson, and pave the way for the UK’s next wave of country artists to crack America at long last.
- MM
Tate McRae
Tate McRae has become a household name in pop music over the last handful of years, in large part thanks to a brilliant TikTok presence that has helped bolster her career similar to that of Noah Kahan, Dasha, Shaboozey and others.
In the last year or so, though, it feels like the Canadian artist is beginning to ever so slightly dip her toes into the country waters.
As part of the VIP ticket package across her touring efforts, fans can gain access to the '2 hands' hitmaker's sound check ahead of the show, and recently, this has offered an intimate opportunity to hear McRae perform pitch perfect acoustic covers for the lucky audiences.
Ranging from Coldplay's 'The Scientist,' Post Malone's 'Chemicals' and The Script's 'Breakeven,' to Rihanna's 'Stay,' Billie Eilish's 'BIRDS OF A FEATHER' and Taylor Swift's 'Style,' amidst a sea of others, McRae has also dabbled in a growing number of country songs during her sound checks. Most notably, the 21-year-old offered mesmerizing renditions of songs like 'I Had Some Help,' 'Stick Season,' 'Sailor Song' and 'Tequila,' which have rendered quite a fervent reaction online.
Beyond that, during her stop at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena this past August, the star brought out her friend and country darling Megan Moroney for a duet version of her breakout hit, 'Tennessee Orange.'
Before welcoming Moroney onto the stage, McRae admitted that she "love[s] Nashville so, so, so much." With any luck, she'll be spending a whole lot more time in Music City here soon if a country conversion is in her future.
- LF
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson has enjoyed quite the evolution since winning the first season of American Idol in 2002.
Coming out as a no holds barred pop-rocker, then graduating to one of pop music's most prolific vocalists and now becoming a beacon of reverence on her daily talk show, her career has been a holistic one. Beyond that, if you go through her full discography up to this point, you'll find traces of genres from all over, including a pair of country singles from 2012 – 'Get Up (A Cowboys Anthem)' and 'Mr. Know It All - Country Version.'
While neither of those songs obviously went on to any sort of meaningful acclaim, they're just a drop in the bucket of her relationship with the country genre. Over the last two decades, the 3x Grammy award-winner has teamed up with the likes of Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Chris Stapleton, Kelsea Ballerini & Carly Pearce, Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Jason Aldean, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Ronnie Dunn and Brett Eldredge.
With various covers of country classics and modern hits being peppered throughout her acclaimed Kellyoke segment, there's a pretty solid argument to be made that the Texas native could grace up with a full-on country chapter in her storied musical journey.
Clarkson's last record, chemistry, was released in June of 2023, and while she's not necessarily shown to be married to a specific album cycle, we think it could be high time for her to show off her southern charm.
- LF
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