Any music fan, especially a country music fan, knows that Texas has its own style of music. The Lone Star State even has its own charts and plenty of successful artists who make a decent living within the massive state.
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But some country artists have managed to find success beyond Texas. These four country artists are all from Texas, and have carved out for themselves an incredible career beyond their home state.
Cody Johnson
Cody Johnson was already having success in Texas as a singer. The former rodeo star and prison guard released six independent albums and thought at one point he might just remain a Texas artist. In fact, Johnson had multiple opportunities to sign with a record label, before he joined Warner Music Nashville, releasing Ain’t Nothin’ To It in 2019. But for Johnson, he wasn’t willing to change his ways to appease a record company.
“A long time ago, [I was] sitting in a record label office,” Johnson recalls to ABC. “And I was told the cowboy hat is not going to work, being from Texas is not going to work. So, this has been a mission of mine for 18 years now to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to go win my CMA. I’m going to go do this.’”
Johnson has gone on to win several CMA Awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year in 2025, the same year he was nominated for Entertainer of the Year.
Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert was born and raised in Texas, a state she still calls home. From the town of Lindale, Lambert draws a lot of influence in her music from her roots.
Lambert has traveled all over the world with her music. But she credits a lot of her success to the small town she was raised in.
“I write a lot about where I am from,” Lambert tells Garden & Gun. “Lindale is your typical small Texas town. It’s a Friday night football … church on Sunday morning, climb the water tower kind of a town. Country music has always been songs about rural life, and I grew up that way.”
Parker McCollum
Parker McCollum was born and raised in Conroe, Texas. Located just outside of Houston, McCollum got his start in Texas, performing even as a teenager in local places.
After high school, McCollum relocated to Austin, Texas, where he continued to perform. McCollum released two independent albums, both The Limestone Kid and Probably Wrong, before signing a record deal in 2019.
McCollum spends a lot of time in Nashville but still proudly calls Texas home.
George Strait
Of all the country artists from Texas, it’s undoubtedly George Strait who is the most notable. From Poteet, Texas, Strait remains an avid supporter of Texas, where he still resides today.
A lot of other artists relocate to Nashville to get their careers started before eventually returning home. But Strait isn’t like other artists. He remained in Texas for his entire career, in part due to the fact that it’s where his career began.
“We later played most every honky-tonk in South and Central Texas,” Strait tells Billboard. “Those were fun days, and I believe that gave me a good foundation for what would come later.”
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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