1971 in country music

Events

No dates

• Seeking younger, more urban viewers, CBS cancels nearly all of its rural-themed programming. Among the most notable casualties:
• * The Beverly Hillbillies – a sitcom which had aired since 1962, about the misadventures of an Appalachia clan who become oil tycoons.
• * Green Acres – another sitcom about a New York attorney and his wife who move to the country and start farming.
• * Hee Haw – the country music-variety show starring Roy Clark and Buck Owens.
• Up-and-coming country music star Mickey Gilley and business partner Sherwood Cryer open Gilley's, a bar/honky tonk that was featured in the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy, and became famous for featuring up-and-coming country acts and its mechanical bulls.

  Top hits of the year

Number one hits

United States

• 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
• 2^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
• A^ First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• C^' Only Billboard'' No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

  Canada

• 2^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
• A^ First RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
• B^ Last RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
• C^' Only RPM'' No. 1 hit for that artist.

  Other major hits

Singles released by American artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Top new album releases

Births

• January 17 – Kid Rock, white rap vocalist who had major country hits with "Picture" and "All Summer Long."
• February 5 — Sara Evans, female vocalist from the late 1990s–2000s.
• March 4 – Jason Sellers, singer-songwriter.
• March 10 – Daryle Singletary, neotraditonalist singer of the 1990s.
• April 26 — Jay DeMarcus, member of Rascal Flatts.
• May 16 — Rick Trevino, Mexican-American singer who had several hits in the 1990s.
• April 30 — Carolyn Dawn Johnson, singer-songwriter.
• July 23 — Alison Krauss, bluegrass artist, vocalist and leader of Union Station.
• October 20 – Jimi Westbrook, member of Little Big Town.

  Deaths

• February 7 — Dock Boggs, 73, influential old-time country singer.
• February 28 – Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, 72, old-time fiddle player.
• June 12 — J. E. Mainer, 72, old-time fiddle player and early country music star.
• August 7 – Henry D. "Homer" Haynes, 50, of the Homer and Jethro comedy duo.
• August 20 — Tom Darby, 79, one half of the duo Darby and Tarlton, an early country music duo.

  Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Arthur Edward Satherley

  Major awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "Help Me Make It Through the Night", Sammi Smith
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "When You're Hot, You're Hot", Jerry Reed
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "After the Fire Is Gone", Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
• Best Country Instrumental Performance — "Snowbird" Chet Atkins
• Best Country Song — "Help Me Make It Through the Night", Kris Kristofferson

  Juno Awards

• Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Stompin' Tom Connors
• Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Myrna Lorrie
• Country Group or Duo of the Year — Mercey Brothers

  Academy of Country Music

• Entertainer of the Year — Freddie Hart
• Song of the Year — "Easy Loving", Freddie Hart
• Single of the Year — "Easy Loving", Freddie Hart
• Album of the Year — Easy Loving, Freddie Hart
• Top Male Vocalist — Freddie Hart
• Top Female Vocalist — Loretta Lynn
• Top Vocal Duo — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
• Top New Male Vocalist — Tony Booth
• Top New Female Vocalist — Barbara Mandrell

  Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year — Charley Pride
• Song of the Year — "Easy Loving", Freddie Hart
• Single of the Year — "Help Me Make It Through the Night", Sammi Smith
• Album of the Year — I Won't Mention It Again, Ray Price
• Male Vocalist of the Year — Charley Pride
• Female Vocalist of the Year — Lynn Anderson
• Vocal Duo of the Year — Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
• Vocal Group of the Year — Osborne Brothers
• Instrumentalist of the Year — Jerry Reed
• Instrumental Group of the Year — Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass

  Other links

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