Country Is Cool?

In recent years, country music has surged in popularity with UK audiences, but what is it about the genre that has captured the nation’s hearts and ears? Is it the whiskey sippin’, truck drivin’ and boot wearin’ culture that has caught everyone’s attention? Or is it something deeper? Perhaps it is the songs themselves, stories that have gripped the UK by the brim of its cowboy hat and refused to let go.

For decades, country music in the UK remained a niche interest. Despite the early chart success of country queen, Dolly Parton, with ‘Jolene’ peaking at number seven on the Official Singles Chart, and her later collaboration with Kenny Rogers, ‘Islands in the Stream’, spending 16 weeks in the Top 10 during the eighties, the genre never resonated with UK audiences in quite the same way it did across the pond. This is not to diminish the achievements of Parton, or even Johnny Cash, who also found chart success here, but to say country music simply never took hold in Britain as it did back in the United States. That is until recent years.

It is undeniable that country music is having its moment in the UK right now. According to the UK Country Music Association, streaming of the genre grew by 84.3% in early 2025. Yet it is not just the numbers telling the story, it is the live shows as well.

In 2024, Morgan Wallen, dubbed as country music’s bad boy, sold out London’s iconic Hyde Park, with 50,000 fans singing along in the unlikely British heat. The British Summer Time event went so far as to set a record for the largest country concert in UK history, and the irony of it taking place on 4th July was certainly not lost on audiences.

Following, Wallen’s success, Zach Bryan surpassed the record himself, selling out two nights at the same event the following year. Although Bryan famously resists the country label, the ever-present twang of acoustic guitars and storytelling heart of his songs speak for themselves. In 2026, Luke Combs looks set to raise the bar once again with three sold out nights at the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium.

But why is country finally cool, and better yet why now? Some argue it was the endorsement of global stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé that drew in new listeners. Yet Swift has not been rooted in country since 2010, whilst Beyoncé’s Grammy winning album Cowboy Carter only arrived in 2024.

Meanwhile the UK’s country consumption erupted years earlier. Others point to younger audiences, as argued by Pollstar News and Gone Country, Gen Z and Millennials are connecting to the genre. On the other hand, The Guardian proposes the increasing inclusivity within the genre is responsible. Midwestern Princess and openly lesbian pop sensation, Chappel Roan, for example dipped her toe into country with her chart topping single ‘The Giver’.

In the past few years country music hast made its mark with UK listeners, and 2026 is set to continue the takeover. But whatever the reason for the genre’s domination, one conclusion feels certain. Country is finally cool.

This article was first published by Macy Elmes in Wild Country Issue 3; an independent magazine dedicated to the UK country music scene and is reproduced here with the author’s permission.