2009 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2009.

Events

• February 27 – Billy Grammer celebrates his 50th Grand Ole Opry anniversary
• June 10 – Carrie Underwood and Keith Anderson at the City of Hope Softball Challenge at Greer Stadium.
• August – After 36 years of using the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as the basis of its program, American Country Countdown begins using the Mediabase chart.
• August 10 – Brooks & Dunn announce that they are disbanding in 2010 after two decades as a duo.
• August 25 – Jack Ingram sets Guinness Book of World Records mark for most consecutive radio interviews in 24 hours, having done 215 consecutive interviews for five minutes each.
• September 13 – Taylor Swift becomes the first country music artist to win an MTV Music Video award at the 2009 event, winning a Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me". Hip hop artist and producer Kanye West interrupts Swift's acceptance speech, implying that another video should have won instead. This results in a media stir for several days; eventually, West apologizes – first on his blog, and then by personally contacting Swift.
• October 15 – Garth Brooks announces that he is emerging from retirement to perform shows in Las Vegas. These concerts will be held approximately fifteen weekends per year until the year 2014. His first set of performances already sells out.
• December 2 – Rodney Atkins and Keith Anderson at the 100.3 KILT Ten Man Jam.

Top hits of the year

The following songs placed within the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs or Canada Country charts in 2009:

Top new album releases

The following albums placed within the Top 50 on the Top Country Albums charts in 2009:

Other top albums

Deaths

• January 9 – Jon Hager, 67, one half of the Hager Twins, gained fame on Hee Haw.
• February 3 – Tom Brumley, 74, steel guitarist for Buck Owens' Buckaroos, Ricky Nelson, and Desert Rose Band; member Int'l Steel Guitar Hall of Fame and Texas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame; best known for steel guitar work on "Together Again"
• February 7 – Molly Bee, 69, gained fame through appearances on Hometown Jamboree. (complications from a stroke)
• March 2 – Ernest Ashworth, 80, Grand Ole Opry star, best known for his 1963 Number One hit, "Talk Back Tremblin' Lips".
• March 8 – Hank Locklin, 91, Grand Ole Opry star, best known for his 1960 crossover hit, "Please Help Me, I'm Falling".
• March 25 – Dan Seals, 61, singer-songwriter of the 1980s, best known for his 1985 crossover hit, "Bop". (mantle cell lymphoma)
• April 28 – Vern Gosdin, 74, singer-songwriter known as "the Voice." (complications from a stroke)
• June 10 – Barry Beckett, 66, record producer and session musician (natural causes)
• June 24 – Tim Krekel, 58, country music songwriter ("Cry on the Shoulder of the Road") (cancer)
• July 28 – Reverend Ike, 74, Ike made a guest appearance on Hank Williams Jr.'s single "Mind Your Own Business", a Number One country hit in 1986. (complications from a stroke)
• August 13 – Les Paul, 94, recording innovator and electric guitar inventor, both which have seen significant use in country music (complications from pneumonia)
• August 14 – Warren "Gates" Nichols, 65, steel guitarist and co-founding member of the 1990s group Confederate Railroad (pancreatic cancer).
• September 27 – Ruby Wright, 69, daughter of country music legends Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright and prominent member of her parents' touring act (heart-related illness)

Hall of Fame Inductees

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
• The Dillards

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Roy Clark (1933–2018)
• Barbara Mandrell (born 1948)
• Charlie McCoy (born 1941)

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Buffy Sainte-Marie
• Barry Haugen
• John Murphy

Major awards

Grammy Awards

(presented January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles)

• Album of the Year – Fearless by Taylor Swift
• Best Female Country Vocal Performance – "White Horse", Taylor Swift
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance – "Sweet Thing", Keith Urban
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – "I Run to You", Lady Antebellum
• Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – "I Told You So", Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis
• Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Producer's Medley", Steve Wariner
• Best Country Song – "White Horse", Taylor Swift and Liz Rose
• Best Country Album – Fearless by Taylor Swift
• Best Bluegrass Album – ', Steve Martin

Juno Awards

(presented April 18, 2010 in St. John's)

• Country Album of the Year – Dance with Me, Johnny Reid

CMT Music Awards

(presented June 16 in Nashville)

• Video of the Year – "Love Story", Taylor Swift
• Male Video of the Year – "Waitin' on a Woman", Brad Paisley
• Female Video of the Year – "Love Story", Taylor Swift
• Group Video of the Year – "Every Day", Rascal Flatts
• Duo Video of the Year – "All I Want to Do", Sugarland
• USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year – "Chicken Fried", Zac Brown Band
• Collaborative Video of the Year – "Start a Band", Brad Paisley and Keith Urban
• Performance of the Year – "Country Boy", Alan Jackson featuring George Strait, Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley
• Wide Open Country Video of the Year – "All Summer Long", Kid Rock
• Video Director of the Year – Trey Fanjoy
• Nationwide On Your Side Award – Gloriana

Academy of Country Music

(presented April 18, 2010 in Las Vegas)

• Entertainer of the Year – Carrie Underwood
• Top Male Vocalist – Brad Paisley
• Top Female Vocalist – Miranda Lambert
• Top Vocal Group – Lady Antebellum
• Top Vocal Duo – Brooks & Dunn
• Top New Solo Vocalist – Luke Bryan
• Top New Vocal Duo – Joey + Rory
• Top New Vocal Group – Gloriana
• Top New Artist – Luke Bryan
• Album of the Year – Revolution, Miranda Lambert
• Single Record of the Year – "Need You Now", Lady Antebellum
• Song of the Year – "Need You Now", Lady Antebellum
• Video of the Year – "White Liar", Miranda Lambert
• Vocal Event of the Year – "Hillbilly Bone", Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins

Americana Music Honors & Awards

• Album of the Year – Written in Chalk (Buddy and Julie Miller)
• Artist of the Year – Buddy Miller
• Duo/Group of the Year – Buddy and Julie Miller
• Song of the Year – "Chalk" (Julie Miller)
• Emerging Artist of the Year – Justin Townes Earle
• Instrumentalist of the Year – Gurf Morlix
• Lifetime Achievement: Songwriting – John Fogerty
• Lifetime Achievement: Performance – Asleep at the Wheel
• Lifetime Achievement: Instrumentalist – Sam Bush
• Lifetime Achievement: Executive – Ken Levitan
• Lifetime Achievement: Producer/Engineer – Jim Rooney

American Music Awards

(presented in Los Angeles on November 22, 2009)

• Artist of the Year – Taylor Swift
• Favorite Country Female Artist – Taylor Swift
• Favorite Country Male Artist – Keith Urban
• Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group – Rascal Flatts
• Favorite Country Album – Fearless by Taylor Swift

ARIA Awards

(presented in Sydney on November 26, 2009)

• Best Country Album – I Love This Place (Troy Cassar-Daley)
• ARIA Hall of Fame – Kev Carmody
• ARIA Hall of Fame – The Dingoes

Canadian Country Music Association

(presented September 13 in Vancouver)

• Fans' Choice Award – Johnny Reid
• Male Artist of the Year – Johnny Reid
• Female Artist of the Year – Crystal Shawanda
• Group or Duo of the Year – Doc Walker
• Songwriter(s) of the Year – "A Woman Like You", written by Johnny Reid and Brent Maher
• Single of the Year – "Brothers", performed by Dean Brody
• Album of the Year – Dance with Me, Johnny Reid
• Top Selling Album – Fearless, Taylor Swift
• Top Selling Canadian Album – Dance with Me, Johnny Reid
• CMT Video of the Year – "A Woman Like You", Johnny Reid
• Rising Star Award – Tara Oram
• Roots Artist or Group of the Year – Corb Lund

Country Music Association

(presented November 11 in Nashville)

• Entertainer of the Year – Taylor Swift
• Single of the Year – "I Run to You", Lady Antebellum
• Song of the Year – "In Color", Jamey Johnson
• Vocal Group of the Year – Lady Antebellum
• New Artist of the Year – Darius Rucker
• Album of the Year – Fearless, Taylor Swift
• Musician of the Year – Mac McAnally
• Vocal Duo of the Year – Sugarland
• Music Video of the Year – "Love Story", Taylor Swift
• Male Vocalist of the Year – Brad Paisley
• Female Vocalist of the Year – Taylor Swift
• Musical Event of the Year – "Start a Band", Brad Paisley and Keith Urban

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Stars who were honored in 2009

Crystal Gayle

See also

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

References