Music

See the Most-Played Country Song From the Year You Were Born

If you turn 21 years old in 2022, then you were born in a Brooks & Dunn year. Those turning 40 will find a Willie Nelson song as the most played song from their birth year.

Anyone turning 75 years old got an earful of bad advice from Tex Williams the year they were born.

“Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)” was the most played country song from 1947, and if you’re bewildered by how such a blatant piece of cigarette propaganda could have risen above stories of love and loss in country music, then scroll down, click and listen. You’ll come away even more amazed!

This list of country music’s most played songs from the way you were born goes back to 1946, the first year that Billboard published its year-end chart. Several artists have two songs on this list, and quite a few have gone back-to-back (Morgan Wallen was the most recent, in 2019 and 2020).

Only two artists have three songs on this list: Hank Williams owned country radio in the early 1950s. Likewise, Tim McGraw filled dup airplay playlists from 1997 to 2004.

What song was the most played country song during the year you were born?

See the Most Played Country Song from the Year You Were Born

Who had the most played country song during the year you were born? This list is a fascinating time capsule of prevalent trends from every decade in American history. Scroll through to find your birth year and then click to listen. Some of these songs have been lost through the years, many of them for good reason!