The Top 5 Modern Country Singers

Modern Country Music is often regarded as not country at all, lacking the fundamental principles of traditional. Such are the changing times where Pop meets Country and is regarded as Country. So whether good or bad, who are the top modern Country Singers?

5. Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band is an award winning band from Atlanta, Georgia. They have released four albums, the first in 2004, and three singles, with two number ones "Chicken Fried" and "Toes," and a number two "Whatever it is." With a good steady start, they are growing in popularity and slowly becoming recognized as a good Country Music band to rival other new and very popular bands, such as Lady Antebellum.

4. Toby Keith
Toby Keith was born July 8, 1961 and rose to fame when he released his first four albums in the 90's: "Toby Keith," "Boomtown," "Blue Moon" and "Dream Walkin'" and a single "Should've Been a Cowboy," which was one of the most well known Country songs of the 90s. From there he has carried on rising to greatness with 19 Number one Country hits, and now enjoys a top spot among the greatest modern Country singers.

3. Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum is not technically a singer, but a group, from Nashville, Tennessee, the group is made of Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott. They made their debut in 2007 with "Love Don't Live here," which made it to number 3 on the Country Charts. Their first number 1 came in July 2009 with "I Run to You" with this success behind them and their careers only just beginning we can expect to see more of Lady Antebellum in the charts for many years to come.

2. Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley born October 28th, 1972, released his first album in 1999 with "Who Needs Pictures," all of his albums are certified gold or higher, and has had fourteen number ones. Strictly though Brad Paisley is not pure country, he tends to cross music genres between traditional and and pop or soft rock. Despite this Brad is very popular among modern Fans and is an up and coming star.

1. Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood, born 10th March, 1983, rose to the spotlight after she won the fourth season of American Idol. Don't let that put you off though, she is fast becoming a name to be reckoned with in the C. Music Business, with her debut album "Some hearts," going Ten times platinum and is the fastest selling female album in Country music history! Carrie is bringing it to the forefront of the millennium, reintroducing it to a new generation of people, perhaps it lacks the finesse of old greats like Hank Williams or the true Country Spirit of The Carter Family, but she is doing her bit for Country Music worldwide, and showing that Country can still be popular.

While some of these artists may be seen as more pop or rock than Country by those who like their Country to be traditionally, they are bringing about a new age, for the next generation.

The Future Looks Bright For Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum-consisting of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood- is slowly but surely carving its own place in the history of country music and in the hearts of their fans because of their country songs featuring superb vocal harmonies. Judging from the number of articles mentioning the band’s name and recent awards in the country music blog universe, it appears that the band has won the approval and respect of critics and fans alike. In winning the Award for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for their single “I Run To You” at the 52nd Grammy Awards held last January 31, the band has successfully wrested the honor from more established artists such as Brooks & Dunn and Rascal Flatts.

The self-titled debut album from which the track has been lifted is a huge success. It holds the distinction of being the first album by a new duo or group to debut at the top spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts. Thus far, it has produced hit singles including "Love Don't Live Here," which reached the No .3 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, "Lookin' for a Good Time" (No. 11), "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (No. 3), and the award-winning single, "I Run to You," which is also the band’s first number one single.

Just a few days before winning their first Grammy Award, country music blog posts were filled with speculations regarding Lady Antebellum’s second album entitled, “Need You Now.” Admittedly, the band members were not as confident, while recording simply because they thought they could suffer from the sophomore jinx. In an interview with Billboard.com, Kelley shared, "I think we definitely put a lot of pressure on ourselves with the success of the first record that we wanted to make one that surpassed it." He added, "We definitely don't want to get into...the sophomore slump. We want to be doing this for a long time and also live up to the expectations of some of the awards we've been lucky to get, the CMAs and stuff."

It seems that their worries are unfounded because already, the album’s title track has spent five weeks as the No. 1 song on Billboard’s Country Songs chart. It has also peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified platinum. Currently, the album’ second single, "American Honey," is also climbing the top 20 on the Country Songs chart. When asked about the continuous success they have been receiving in the form of awards and hit singles, Kelley says, "It feels like a lot of people in the music industry and Nashville in particular are backing us and basically giving their stamp of approval, and we want to make them proud. We feel a lot of support. It's just nice to know there's a lot of people rallying around us."

When asked about plans for the future, Kelly added that they are "gonna try to up our production a little bit. We feel like there's obviously a lot more people aware of who we are, so they're probably going to expect a little more out of us now. We do, too, so it'll be a nice next step up for us."

The whole community of fans, musicians, artists, and country music blog writers will surely be waiting for more hit songs from this band for many years to come.