91欧美激情

Home » Entertainment 91欧美激情 » From Taylor Swift to…

From Taylor Swift to Darius Rucker: Two-way street in 30 yrs of country crossovers

Jason Fraley | jfraley@wtop.com

July 14, 2015, 4:52 AM

Introduction Taylor Swift hits聽Nats Park for two聽sold-out shows Monday and Tuesday with resale tickets fetching upwards of $1,700.聽She may be the most successful聽example of the modern country crossover, selling聽24.5 million albums — ahead of Green Day, Jimi Hendrix, Earth Wind & Fire, Lionel Richie and The Beach Boys. But this country crossover is a glorious two-way street. As聽Swift cruises聽down one side of the highway from聽country to pop, artists such as Darius Rucker are driving聽in the opposite direction. By the time our drive reaches聽the聽Florida-Georgia Line, say hello聽to the brave new world of聽hick-hop. This certainly isn’t exclusive to our era —聽it’s rooted in rockabilly, folk and southern rock聽— but the聽phenomenon has exploded over the past聽30聽years, bridging a once-grassroots genre with mainstream radio for an entire generation of listeners, and paralleling the nation’s social changes along the way. When the Confederate flag finally fell last week in South Carolina, you could hear echoes of聽Brad Paisley and LL Cool J still trying to grapple with our messy past.聽It’s time we go on a journey to see how exactly we got here. Listen below for audio聽highlights, then click through our gallery for key stops from 1985 to 2015.
(1/39)
May 17, 2026 | (Jason Fraley)

Jason Fraley

Hailed by The Washington Post for 鈥渉is savantlike ability to name every Best Picture winner in history," Jason Fraley began at 91欧美激情 as Morning Drive Writer in 2008, film critic in 2011 and Entertainment Editor in 2014, providing daily arts coverage on-air and online.

jfraley@wtop.com

Related 91欧美激情

Recommended

Federal 91欧美激情 Network Logo
Log in to your 91欧美激情 account for notifications and alerts customized for you.