Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! Today I want to talk about country music’s class of ’89. For those of you who don’t know what that is, I will explain it to you. 1989 was the year that Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and Travis Tritt all made their debuts in country music. Since all four of these men have become country music superstars, they became known as the class of ’89.

 

These four artists came along at the perfect time, because in the mid 1980s, country music came to a crossroad. The outlaw movement from the 1970s and early 1980s was coming to an end, because artists that were involved in the outlaw movement such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings were starting to get older and the radio wasn’t playing them as much. At that time a lot of new country singers had a pop sound in their music. But thanks to new artists like Randy Travis and Reba McEntire who kept country music alive, country music completely turned around and didn’t lose its traditional sound.

 

By the time the class of ’89 came along, country music pretty much returned to its roots, and the class of ’89 kept it that way, but they also introduced a new audience to country music with their modern traditional sound. And Garth Brooks really made country music tours popular.

 

The four men in the class of ’89 have a total of 63 number one songs. Alan has 26, Garth has 19, Clint has 13, and Travis has 5. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.

 

It’s crazy to think that four country music superstars all made their debut in the same year. That goes to show that whenever a new artist makes their debut they could become a superstar, so that’s why I think any new artist should be given a chance to show everyone they are the next best thing in country music.

 

Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, I’ll be back soon!