It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that a country artist would want country music as their top desert island album pick, rock artists would want rock, pop would want pop, so on and so on. But musical inspiration can come from strange places, and just because an artist naturally writes in one musical style doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the style they prefer listening to.
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Such is the case for these five country artists whose desert island album picks are far from the genre they became famous for, revealing interesting insights into what these musicians connect to outside of their own art.
Ashley Cooke: ‘Metamorphosis’ by Hilary Duff
Taste of Country asked several country stars at the ACM Awards what their go-to desert island album would be, including shot in the dark artist Ashley Cooke. The singer chose Hilary Duff’s Metamorphosis, which 20-somethings might recognize as the record that had tweens and pre-teens in a chokehold in the early 2000s. Cooke was born in 1997, making her the prime demographic for the Lizzie McGuire star’s second studio album. The record featured cuts like “Come Clean” and “So Yesterday.” Pure 2000s pop bops.
Kameron Marlow: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Debut
For The Voice alum and country artist Kameron Marlow, his go-to desert island album needs to be a little more rock-oriented. Marlow told Taste of Country he would opt for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ eponymous debut from 1967. Although the album did reasonably well in the U.K., it struggled to break significant ground in the States. In hindsight, the rock band’s debut included what would become some of Petty’s most career-defining hits, including “American Girl” and “Breakdown.”
Matt Stell: ‘Jagged Little Pill’ by Alanis Morissette
“Prayed For You” country star Matt Stell has long been outspoken about his love for 1990s rock icon Alanis Morissette, so it’s not surprising that he would mention her 1995 record, Jagged Little Pill, as his desert island album pick to Taste of Country. In a 2019 interview with Digital Journal, Stell said, “Jagged Little Pill was one of my top five favorite albums of the ‘90s decade. Every song on there was an absolute banger. She is so talented. That record changed my life.” Stell also cited Morissette as his dream female duet partner.
Reba McEntire: Carole King and Tina Turner
From her prolific, decades-long career to her signature Oklahoma twang, Reba McEntire is about as country as country gets. But that doesn’t mean she’s stockpiling honky tonk records for her hypothetical desert island destination. In a 2019 interview with fellow country artist Garth Brooks, McEntire listed Carole King’s 1971 seminal album, Tapestry, and Tina Turner’s 1993 What’s Love Got to Do with It as her top picks. Nevertheless, Reba’s Reba, and she couldn’t help but include Oklahoman country legend Merle Haggard and the Strangers’ 1969 Okie from Muskogee.
Johnny Cash: “Something From Beethoven”
In his 1997 memoir Cash, Johnny Cash provided a lengthy list of albums he would take with him to a desert island. “Assuming your cell phone didn’t make it through the surf, but your solo-powered CD player did,” Cash wrote, he would have to take albums from Bob Dylan, Merle Travis, Emmylou Harris, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. These selections, including a record by his daughter, Roseanne Cash, aren’t necessarily surprising. What might raise a few eyebrows is the fact that Cash also listed “something by Beethoven,” revealing the country star’s deep connection to the Romantic era composer.
Photo by Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images
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