3 Country Artists From the 1980s Who Had One Pop Crossover Hit and Never Looked Back

Genre jumping is an exciting thing for an artist. It proves you have a universal appeal, and what artist doesn’t want to prove that? The three 1980s country artists below all earned one pop crossover and were forever changed. They couldn’t be resigned to one descriptor after earning a genre-bending hit.

[RELATED: On the Charts 52 Years Ago Today, Dolly Parton Was at No. 1 With the Timeless Hit That Made Her “Enough To Buy Graceland”]

Alabama

Though Alabama may be “southern-born and southern-bred,” they have earned their fair share of pop crossover tracks, or at least they have become country artists that pop fans deign to listen to from time to time. Their first brush with multi-chart success was “Feels So Right”. This 1981 release not only hit No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart but also peaked at No. 20 on the Hot 100. Not too shabby for a band as countryfied as this one.

Alabama didn’t stop there; they earned several other crossover hits, including “Love In The First Degree” and “The Closer You Get.” The band would forever be one that didn’t live in just one genre once the pop market got hold of them. They solidified their status as an era-defining band that influenced multiple corners of the music industry.

Ronnie Milsap

Ronnie Milsap earned crossover success before the 80s, but solidified it with “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me” in 1981. This song rose all the way to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, firmly putting him in crossover territory.

After that hit, Milsap was a mainstay on the pop charts, completely muddying his genre classification forever. His other crossovers include “Smoky Mountain Rain”, “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World”, and “Any Day Now”. Because of this track record, you could just as easily call Milsap a pop artist as you could a country one.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is one of the most successful pop crossover country artists of all time. She, too, earned that status before the 80s, but that decade was her prime crossover moment. “9 To 5” proved wildly successful in multiple markets, making Parton less of a country artist and more of an undefinable icon.

She followed that success with an equally beloved classic with fellow crossover artist Kenny Rogers, “Islands In The Stream”. Both of these songs, among others, completely transformed Parton’s career. She proved she was a force to be reckoned with, no matter what genres she tried on.

(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)