Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! When singers reach a certain age, the radio tends to stop playing them. This normally happens when a singer is in their 50s or, if they get lucky, maybe even around 60. It makes sense because there are so many new artists that the radio plays, so the older artists eventually stop getting airplay.

Rolling Stone created a list of the “100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.” I took the top ten artists on their list and researched when they released their debut single and when they stopped having radio success except for maybe a few singles here or there that didn't chart well. The artists who were included in this research are Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, The Carter Family, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, George Strait, and Garth Brooks. I only used nine out of ten of these artists because The Carter Family was around before the charts were a thing, so we don't know how well their songs would've charted.

The average number of years these artists had radio success was 35. 35 years of doing anything is pretty impressive. This is the same as if someone released their debut single this year and would have chart success until 2058, which seems like a very long time from now. So, even though the radio moves on to new artists, they still give everyone plenty of time to shine.

The artists on Rolling Stone's list had careers anywhere from six years up to 53 years, so even though 35 is the average number of years, it could still last much longer than that.

Just a little update on what I have planned for this month. Tomorrow Kimberly Perry is releasing her debut solo single off of her EP which comes out June 9, so I am very excited to hear, so I will definitely have a post about that. I will also have a new artist spotlight and a new legend highlight, so stay tuned for those things. If there is anything you would like me to talk about, please let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon!