Hall-of-fame outlaws, Nashville craftsmen and modern roots poets, spanning honky-tonk heartbreak to Americana storytelling. Which pen wins?
1Hank WilliamsCountry's founding poet who wrote Your Cheatin' Heart and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.
2Willie NelsonProlific Texas outlaw who wrote Crazy, Hello Walls and Night Life.
3Dolly PartonWrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You among thousands of songs.
4Johnny CashThe Man in Black who wrote I Walk the Line and Folsom Prison Blues.
5Merle HaggardBakersfield giant behind Mama Tried and Okie from Muskogee.
6Kris KristoffersonRhodes scholar turned writer of Me and Bobby McGee and Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down.
7Townes Van ZandtCult Texas troubadour who wrote Pancho and Lefty and If I Needed You.
8Guy ClarkCraftsman of Texas songwriting behind Desperados Waiting for a Train.
9John PrineBeloved Americana storyteller who wrote Angel from Montgomery and Sam Stone.
10Bob DylanNobel laureate whose Nashville Skyline era and songbook shaped Americana.
11Loretta LynnBlunt coal-miner's daughter who wrote Coal Miner's Daughter and The Pill.
12Harlan HowardNashville Sound craftsman who defined country songs as three chords and the truth.
13Lucinda WilliamsSouthern rock-country poet behind Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
14Gram ParsonsCosmic American Music pioneer who fused country and rock.
15Emmylou HarrisHarmony queen and songwriter who shaped alt-country and Americana.
16Steve EarleOutlaw-country and roots rocker who wrote Copperhead Road and Guitar Town.
17Gillian WelchAppalachian-tinged modern Americana writer of Revelator and Time (The Revelator).
18Jason IsbellModern Americana star who wrote Cover Me Up and Elephant.
19Bill AndersonCountry Hall of Famer nicknamed Whispering Bill with dozens of chart hits.
20Tom T. HallThe Storyteller who wrote Harper Valley PTA and Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine.
21Woody GuthrieDust Bowl folk godfather who wrote This Land Is Your Land.
22Bruce SpringsteenWorking-class storyteller of Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad.
23Ashley GorleyRecord-setting modern Nashville hitmaker with the most number-one country songs.
24Brandy ClarkSharp-witted modern country writer behind Follow Your Arrow.
25Chris StapletonSoulful Kentucky songwriter behind Tennessee Whiskey and Broken Halos.
26Tyler ChildersAppalachian singer-songwriter known for Feathered Indians and Lady May.
