1954 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1954.

Events

• January 4 — Elvis Presley records a 10-inch acetate demo at the Memphis Recording Studio; the two songs are "Casual Love Affair" and "I'll Never Stand In Your Way".
• February 20 — "Slowly" by Webb Pierce becomes the first No. 1 song on Billboards country charts to feature the pedal steel guitar.
• June 19 — Top recording "I Don't Hurt Anymore" by Hank Snow begins 20-week run at #1 on Best Seller list. "One by One" by Red Foley and Kitty Wells begins 21-week run at #2 on same chart, spending a single week at No. 1 later in the year. For most of the summer and fall, "I Don't Hurt Anymore" holds "One By One" out of the top spot.
• July 17 — Ozark Jubilee debuts (on radio) as a weekly live broadcast over KWTO-AM. On August 7, ABC Radio begins carrying 25 minutes of the program nationally, hosted by Red Foley.
• July 6 — Elvis Presley releases his first single, "That's All Right"/"Blue Moon of Kentucky". A month later, Billboard gives the song a positive review, with the reviewer calling Presley a "strong new talent," and by September is a No. 1 hit in Memphis.
• October 2 — Elvis Presley makes his one and only appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Two weeks later, debuted on the Louisiana Hayride and is soon making regular appearances.
• November 13 — A Billboard disc jockey poll reports that disc jockeys are playing 11 percent country on radio stations, compared to 42 percent pop and 5 percent rhythm and blues.
• November 20 — Bartenders in Hammond, Indiana request that disc jockeys at WJOB radio stop playing Ferlin Husky's "The Drunken Driver", about an intoxicated driver who causes a crash that kills two children; the song "is hurting business," the union claimed.

• 1<span id="endnote_1" ></span>^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
• 2<span id="endnote_2" ></span>^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
• A<span id="endnote_A" ></span>^ Only Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.