Top 50 bluegrass songs of 2021

Here is a look at the most played songs on bluegrass radio for the year 2021. These numbers are compiled from our weekly bluegrass playlist charts, adding total spins for the year to determine the songs played most frequently over the last twelve months.

The list has been expanded this year to include the top 50 places on the chart. There are actually 51 entries as there was a tie for #45.

We will publish the 2021 annual charts for Gospel and grassicana over the next few days.

 

  ARTIST TITLE LABEL SONGWRITERS SPINS

1

Irene Kelley Wild Mountain Stream IRK Records Irene Kelley, Billy Droze, Terry Herd 4590

2

Marty Raybon Walking The Floor Billy Blue Tim Raybon 4325

3

Rhonda Vincent I’d Like To Be A Train Upper Management Pete Goble, Leroy Drumm 4177

4

Seth Mulder And Midnight Run One More Night Mountain Fever Seth Mulder 4159

5

Milan Miller Callie Calling Melton & Miller Music Milan Miller, Beth Husband 4134

6

Balsam Range Santa Barbara Mountain Home Adam Wright 4058

7

Milan Miller Ruby Still Falls Melton & Miller Music Beth Husband, Milan Miller 3849

8

Merle Monroe I’m Leaving Town Tonight Pinecastle Tim Raybon 3774

9

Balsam Range Rivers, Rains and Runaway Trains Mountain Home Milan Miller, Beth Husband 3604

10

Bobby Osborne White Line Fever Compass Merle Haggard 3570

11

Jason Davis w/Dan Tyminski Modern Day Jezebel Mountain Fever Daniel Salyer, Jeff McClellan 3239

12

Chris Jones & The Night Drivers Riding The Chief Mountain Home Chris Jones, Thomm Jutz 3234

13

Balsam Range Highway Side Mountain Home Timothy R Carroll, David F Coleman 3218

14

Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive Land On Our Feet Driving Duke Ed Williams 3072

15

Merle Monroe Goodbye Marie Pinecastle Mel McDaniel, Dennis Linde 2983

16

Grascals Thankful Mountain Home Rick Lang, Daryl Mosley 2950

17

Barry Abernathy w/Vince Gill Birmingham Jail Billy Blue Traditional 2933

18

Jimmy Yeary Bone Dry RBR Jimmy Yeary, Will Robinson 2904

19

Rick Faris Deep River Dark Shadow Rick Faris, Mark “Brink” Brinkman 2890

20

Billy Droze She’s Still Here RBR Billy Droze, Chris Myers 2874

21

Adam Wright End Of The End Of The World Melton & Miller Music Adam Wright 2866

22

Rhonda Vincent What Ain’t To Be Just Might Happen Upper Management Porter Wagoner 2807

23

Kenny & Amanda Smith Middle Of August Farm Boy Wayne Winkle, Craig Market 2770

24

Sideline Just A Guy In A Bar Mountain Home Ronnie Bowman, Andy Buckner, Joel Shewmake 2717

25

Alan Bibey & Grasstowne Blue Collar Blues Billy Blue Jerry Salley, Rick Lang 2682

26

Chris Jones & The Night Drivers Whither You Roam Mountain Home Chris Jones 2630

27

Grascals Flowers And Lace Mountain Home Ernie Welch, Donna Ulisse 2592

28

 Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers Readin’, Rightin’, Route 23 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Dwight Yoakam 2443

29

Chris Jones & The Night Drivers Quiet Click Mountain Home Chris Jones 2341

30

Steve Gulley And Tim Stafford Long Way Around The Mountain Mountain Home Tim Stafford, Steve Gulley 2238

31

Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive Hang Me High At Midnight Driving Duke Ed Williams 2171

32

Steve Thomas & The Time Machine My Ship’s In A Bottle Pinecastle Steve Thomas, Terry Herd 2130

33

Darin & Brooke Aldridge Once In A While Billy Blue Shane Nicholson 2117

34

Volume Five When Karma Comes Calling Mountain Fever Terry Herd, Ronnie Bowman 2041

35

Billy Droze Bring On The Wind RBR Billy Droze, Karen Trainor 2002

36

Justin Moses with Del McCoury My Baby’s Gone Mountain Fever Dennis Linde 1918

37

Alan Bibey & Grasstowne Hitchhiking To California Billy Blue Wes Golding, Alan Bibey, Jerry Salley 1898

38

Merle Monroe Harlan Darlin’ Pinecastle Tim Stafford, Bobby Starnes 1788

39

Dale Ann Bradley Falling Down Pinecastle Ashby Frank 1779

40

Don Rigsby These Days I Stand Alone RBR Don Rigsby, Billy Droze 1772

41

Lonesome River Band Cumberland River Shore Mountain Home Billy Smith, Matt Combs 1764

42

Barry Abernathy w/Steve Gulley Back In ’29 Billy Blue Malcolm Holcombe 1758

43

Adam Wright The Edge Melton & Miller Music Adam Wright 1731

44

Bill Emerson Ophelia 615 Hideaway Robbie Robertson 1724

45

Lonesome River Band Little At A Time Mountain Home Edd Easter, James Easter, Russell Easter 1711

45

Tommy Buller Nothing Said At All RBR Tommy Buller, Bart Hansen 1711

46

Darin & Brooke Aldridge Blue Baby Now Billy Blue Cindy Richardson, Ava Aldridge 1696

47

Doyle Lawson & Quiksilver I’ll Take the Lonesome Every Time Billy Blue Glen Duncan, Jerry Salley 1669

48

Unspoken Tradition California Mountain Home Thomm Jutz, Miriam Speyer 1661

49

Lonesome River Band Love Songs Mountain Home Adam Wright 1597

50

Shannon Slaughter Goin’ Up The Mountain Elite Circuit Chris Burton,  Shannon Slaughter 1546

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.