When you think of the stars of country music, it’s inevitable that locales like Nashville or Austin come to mind. Music City and Texas are known for harboring and honoring its many twangy standouts.
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But in truth, stars from the country music genre come from all over the world, from Memphis to Melbourne to Montana. Even Canada boasts some of the best.
As such, we dive into five stars of country music who are not from the United States, including Keith Urban and Shania Twain.
1. Keith Urban
Born in Whangarei, New Zealand, in 1967, Keith Urban moved to Australia when he was just two years old. Today, the country star is married to famed actress Nicole Kidman (the two wed in 2006). But in terms of his country music prowess, he has earned four Grammy awards and 13 CMA awards. To date, Urban has also released 57 singles that charted on the US Hot Country Songs chart and 16 of which went No. 1.
2. Shania Twain
Country’s best-selling female artist of all time was born in Windsor, Ontario, in 1965. She is known for hits like “You’re Still the One,” “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” Along with being the best-selling female country artist ever, she is flat-out one of the best-selling female artists of all time too.
3. Olivia Newton-John
While known for many things, including her prowess as a country standout, the now-late singer and actress Olivia Newton-John was born in England in 1948. From there, she emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, with her family when she was six. Since then, the Grammy Award-winning singer recorded her country album Back with a Heart in 1998 in Nashville after starring in major movies like Grease.
4. Anne Murray
Born in the mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, in Canada in 1945, Anne Murray became the first woman and the first Canadian to win the CMA Award for Album of the Year for her 1983 work, A Little Good News. She retired from singing in 2008 after releasing hits like “You Need Me.” Of her move away from the spotlight, Murray famously said, “I wanted to go out still singing well and not having to make excuses.”
5. k.d. lang
Born Kathryn Dawn Lang in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1961, the singer rose to fame as k.d. lang. Since, she’s become a Grammy Award-winner and released hits like “Constant Craving.” She’s an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and even performed on the popular Christmas television show, Christmas at the Playhouse with Pee-wee Herman. In 2020, she offered a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that still has people talking. The song came as part of Fire Fight Australia in Sydney, which was set to raise money for severe brushfire damage.
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