The Saddest Country Songs of the 1970s

Heartbreak was already a big country music trend by the time the 1970s rolled around: Check out this gallery of great ’60s sad songs for proof.

But with a new decade came along a whole new crop of storytellers and an ever-diversifying roster of subject matter.

Most artists still chose a romantic breakup as their sad song inspiration, but increasingly, they looked to other topics. Kris Kristofferson and John Prine both contributed great songs to the catalog about the hard aftermath of substance abuse and addiction, for example.

This decade produced some of the greatest sad country songs of any era, ever. Where would we be without hits like “I Will Always Love You,” “The Grand Tour” and “Always on My Mind”? There are even multiple songs on this list that are bigger than just one recording artist. Several of them have been hits more than once for different singers, and in different genres.

Scroll through the gallery below to see Taste of Country’s roundup of the best sad songs of the ’70s. Does our No. 1 pick match yours?