1981 in country music

Events

• March 14 — The final showing of Live From The Grand Ole Opry on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) occurs on this night. The show actually went beyond the televised segment, but the show was ended with a clip of Marty Robbins singing "El Paso" (a song he used to close out his Opry segment at midnight) from the year before. Because of cost over-runs and other technicalities, this was the final run for the annual show on PBS that featured the music of Tom T. Hall, Del Reeves, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, and many other performers.
• October — The Weekly Country Music Countdown, a three-hour weekly countdown program, debuts. The syndicated program, hosted by radio personality Chris Charles, features the top 30 country hits of the week as reported by Radio & Records magazine. The program is a success and the first country music-oriented countdown program to successfully rival the 8-year-old American Country Countdown show.

No dates

• The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music, an eight-volume, 143-track collection, is released. The box set is considered one of the first important retrospectives of the genre and contains extensive liner notes, depicting the importance of each song or artist included. Songs included range from 1922's "Sally Gooden" to 1975's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Willie Nelson. Specifically, each volume is titled as follows: "1920's," "1930's Southeast," "1930's Southwest," "1941–1953" (two records), "1953–1963," "Bluegrass" and "1963–1975."
  • Also during the year, the Franklin Mint, as part of its volume series of significant musical recordings, begins issuing a series of country music-focused two-record sets. "The Greatest Country Music Recordings of All Time" will eventually spawn 50 different album sets through 1986 (each new volume issued roughly every other month), with each two-album set focusing on a different era, performer or style, topic and so forth, and each volume will have extensive liner notes and vintage photographs.

Top hits of the year

Singles released by American artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Top new album releases

Other top albums

On television

Regular series

• Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (1980–1982, NBC)
• Hee Haw (1969–1993, syndicated)
• Pop! Goes the Country (1974–1982, syndicated)
• The Porter Wagoner Show (1960–1981, syndicated)
• That Nashville Music (1970–1985, syndicated)

Specials

• June — Country Top 20 – Host Dennis Weaver presented the top 20 songs from January–June 1981. Performances from Alabama, The Gatlin Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, John Schneider, T. G. Sheppard, Dottie West and Shelly West. (syndicated)
• October — Country Galaxy of Stars – A two-hour special featuring performances by country music's top stars. (syndicated)
• December — Country Top 20 – A review of the top 20 songs from July–December 1981, with hosts Charly McClain and Roger Miller. Performers included John Conlee, Gail Davies, Crystal Gayle, Johnny Lee, Eddie Rabbitt, Eddy Raven, Joe Stampley, Sylvia and Hank Williams, Jr. (syndicated)

Births

• March 23 — Brett Young, country pop singer. Best known for his string of hits in the mid-to-late 2010s.
• August 28 — Jake Owen, singer-songwriter of the 2000s.
• September 4 — Tom Gossin, member of Gloriana.
• September 11 — Charles Kelley, member of Lady Antebellum.
• December 4 — Lila McCann, teenage singer of the 1990s.

Deaths

• January 31 – Scotty (born Scott Greene Wiseman), 72, one-half of the 1930s–1940s husband-and-wife duo Lulu Belle and Scotty.

• November 24 – Mother of Country Legends Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle dies at a Nashville hospital aged 69.

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Vernon Dalhart (1883–1948)
• Grant Turner (1912–1991)

Major awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "9 to 5", Dolly Parton
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me", Ronnie Milsap
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Elvira", The Oak Ridge Boys
• Best Country Instrumental Performance — "Country After All These Years", Chet Atkins
• Best Country Song — "9 to 5", Dolly Parton (Performer: Dolly Parton)

Juno Awards

• Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Eddie Eastman
• Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Anne Murray
• Country Group or Duo of the Year — The Good Brothers

Academy of Country Music

• Entertainer of the Year — Alabama
• Song of the Year — "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma", Felice Bryant, Boudleaux Bryant, Larry Collins, Sandy Pinkard (Performer: David Frizzell and Shelly West)
• Single of the Year — "Elvira", The Oak Ridge Boys
• Album of the Year — Feels So Right, Alabama
• Top Male Vocalist — Merle Haggard
• Top Female Vocalist — Barbara Mandrell
• Top Vocal Duo — David Frizzell and Shelly West
• Top New Male Vocalist — Ricky Skaggs
• Top New Female Vocalist — Juice Newton

Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year — Barbara Mandrell
• Song of the Year — "He Stopped Loving Her Today", Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman (Performer: George Jones)
• Single of the Year — "Elvira", The Oak Ridge Boys
• Album of the Year — I Believe in You, Don Williams
• Male Vocalist of the Year — George Jones
• Female Vocalist of the Year — Barbara Mandrell
• Vocal Duo of the Year — David Frizzell and Shelly West
• Vocal Group of the Year — Alabama
• Horizon Award — Terri Gibbs
• Instrumentalist of the Year — Chet Atkins
• Instrumental Group of the Year — Alabama

Other links

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