What is the best country music song of all time?

From Hank Williams to Carrie Underwood, country music has produced some of the most emotionally powerful songs in American history. Which track stands above the rest as the greatest country song ever recorded?

He Stopped Loving Her Today

George Jones' 1980 landmark ballad about undying love, voted the #1 Greatest Country Song of All Time by Grand Ole Opry fans.

1/22

I Will Always Love You

Dolly Parton's 1974 farewell anthem written for mentor Porter Wagoner, a timeless declaration of bittersweet love.

2/22

Jolene

Dolly Parton's 1973 plea to a flame-haired temptress, one of the most immediately recognisable guitar riffs and melodies in country history.

3/22

Ring of Fire

Johnny Cash's blazing 1963 Mexican-mariachi-horn classic, co-written with June Carter Cash, about the all-consuming power of falling in love.

4/22

Crazy

Patsy Cline's 1961 Willie Nelson-penned torch song, considered one of the greatest vocal performances in all of American music.

5/22

Friends in Low Places

Garth Brooks' 1990 defiant, boot-stomping anthem about rejection and solidarity, still a staple of honky-tonks and stadium crowds worldwide.

6/22

Take Me Home, Country Roads

John Denver's 1971 ode to West Virginia, a warm nostalgic anthem that has become a beloved singalong far beyond country audiences.

7/22

Tennessee Whiskey

Chris Stapleton's 2015 slow-burn soul-country tour de force, a raw reinvention of a 1983 classic that showcased his extraordinary voice.

8/22

Stand By Your Man

Tammy Wynette's 1968 controversial yet iconic anthem of devotion, the best-selling country single by a woman for decades.

9/22

The Dance

Garth Brooks' 1990 meditation on whether knowing the end of something would stop you from experiencing it, hailed as one of country's greatest ballads.

10/22

Before He Cheats

Carrie Underwood's 2005 empowerment anthem about a cheating partner's fate, the defining crossover hit of early 21st-century country.

11/22

Mama Tried

Merle Haggard's 1968 autobiographical tale of a son who turned to crime despite his mother's best efforts, a cornerstone of outlaw country.

12/22

Wagon Wheel

Old Crow Medicine Show's 2004 hitchhiker's ballad built on a Bob Dylan sketch, later given new life in Darius Rucker's 2013 crossover hit.

13/22

Jackson

Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's fiery 1967 duet about a couple whose marriage has gone cold, bursting with wit and chemistry.

14/22

Luckenbach, Texas

Waylon Jennings' 1977 back-to-basics outlaw country anthem, calling for simplicity and honesty in a commercialised music world.

15/22

Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Willie Nelson's gently plaintive 1975 cover of a Fred Rose classic that launched his comeback and became one of his signature recordings.

16/22

Need You Now

Lady A's 2009 midnight-longing duet, one of the best-selling country singles ever and a crossover pop success.

17/22

Family Tradition

Hank Williams Jr.'s 1979 rowdy autobiography defending his hard-living lifestyle against critics, a defining anthem of Southern rock-country.

18/22

Whiskey Lullaby

Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss's devastatingly sad 2003 duet about alcoholism and heartbreak, featuring some of country's finest harmonies.

19/22

Live Like You Were Dying

Tim McGraw's 2004 bucket-list ballad inspired by his father's cancer battle, urging listeners to seize life's fleeting moments.

20/22

Achy Breaky Heart

Billy Ray Cyrus's 1992 line-dance phenomenon, one of the most commercially successful — and divisive — country singles of the 1990s.

21/22

Bless the Broken Road

Rascal Flatts' 2004 inspirational anthem about how life's detours lead you to where you're meant to be, a wedding-day favourite.

22/22