# The 26 Greatest Country and Americana Songwriters of All Time

> Hall-of-fame outlaws, Nashville craftsmen and modern roots poets, spanning honky-tonk heartbreak to Americana storytelling. Which pen wins?

*By YPB Team · Published September 30, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-26-greatest-country-and-americana-songwriters-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Hank Williams**
   Country's founding poet who wrote Your Cheatin' Heart and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.
2. **Willie Nelson**
   Prolific Texas outlaw who wrote Crazy, Hello Walls and Night Life.
3. **Dolly Parton**
   Wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You among thousands of songs.
4. **Johnny Cash**
   The Man in Black who wrote I Walk the Line and Folsom Prison Blues.
5. **Merle Haggard**
   Bakersfield giant behind Mama Tried and Okie from Muskogee.
6. **Kris Kristofferson**
   Rhodes scholar turned writer of Me and Bobby McGee and Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down.
7. **Townes Van Zandt**
   Cult Texas troubadour who wrote Pancho and Lefty and If I Needed You.
8. **Guy Clark**
   Craftsman of Texas songwriting behind Desperados Waiting for a Train.
9. **John Prine**
   Beloved Americana storyteller who wrote Angel from Montgomery and Sam Stone.
10. **Bob Dylan**
   Nobel laureate whose Nashville Skyline era and songbook shaped Americana.
11. **Loretta Lynn**
   Blunt coal-miner's daughter who wrote Coal Miner's Daughter and The Pill.
12. **Harlan Howard**
   Nashville Sound craftsman who defined country songs as three chords and the truth.
13. **Lucinda Williams**
   Southern rock-country poet behind Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
14. **Gram Parsons**
   Cosmic American Music pioneer who fused country and rock.
15. **Emmylou Harris**
   Harmony queen and songwriter who shaped alt-country and Americana.
16. **Steve Earle**
   Outlaw-country and roots rocker who wrote Copperhead Road and Guitar Town.
17. **Gillian Welch**
   Appalachian-tinged modern Americana writer of Revelator and Time (The Revelator).
18. **Jason Isbell**
   Modern Americana star who wrote Cover Me Up and Elephant.
19. **Bill Anderson**
   Country Hall of Famer nicknamed Whispering Bill with dozens of chart hits.
20. **Tom T. Hall**
   The Storyteller who wrote Harper Valley PTA and Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine.
21. **Woody Guthrie**
   Dust Bowl folk godfather who wrote This Land Is Your Land.
22. **Bruce Springsteen**
   Working-class storyteller of Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad.
23. **Ashley Gorley**
   Record-setting modern Nashville hitmaker with the most number-one country songs.
24. **Brandy Clark**
   Sharp-witted modern country writer behind Follow Your Arrow.
25. **Chris Stapleton**
   Soulful Kentucky songwriter behind Tennessee Whiskey and Broken Halos.
26. **Tyler Childers**
   Appalachian singer-songwriter known for Feathered Indians and Lady May.

Tags: music, usa, country, songwriters, americana