Dolly Parton, George Jones, Alabama, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kenny Rogers are shining stars in country music history. And 1980 was a climatic year of career-making songs for each of them.
Here are six of country music’s biggest hits – released in 1980 – that turn 45 years old this year.
Videos by American Songwriter
Dolly Parton, “9 to 5”
The legendary Dolly Parton penned “9 to 5” for her still impactful 1980 comedy of the same time. In addition to being the movie’s title track and central to the movie’s soundtrack, “9 to 5” also opened the Sevier County native’s album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, which came out in 1980.
Parton released “9 to 5” as a single in November of 1980, and it was nominated for Best Original Song at the 53rd Academy Awards. She also earned three Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year. She won trophies for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards in 1982.
Parton starred in “9 to 5” alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The flick was Parton’s film debut. The American Film Institute ranked “9 to 5” No. 78 in its 100 Years…100 Songs list in 2004.
Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”
Waylon Jennings recorded “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” for his 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws, but Willie Nelson catapulted the song into pop culture history when he recorded it for the soundtrack to The Electric Horseman. Sharon Vaughn wrote “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.” It was Nelson’s fifth No. 1 country hit.
Willie Nelson, “On The Road Again”
The beloved Texan wrote and recorded “On the Road Again” about his love of performing and touring. The song was born when the executive producer of Honeysuckle Rose asked Nelson to write a song for the movie’s soundtrack. “On the Road Again” was Nelson’s sixth chart-topper as a solo artist and won Best Country Song at the Grammy Awards.
George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman wrote what is perhaps country music’s heartbreaking love song. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is about a man whose relationship ended. But he loved the woman until the day he died.
Jones released “He Stopped Loving Her Today” in April of 1980. Over the last four-and-a-half decades, many critics have called it the greatest country song of all time. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” was Jones’ first solo No. 1 song in six years. It re-entered the charts 33 years later when he died in 2013. The Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry preserved the song in 2008.
Alabama, “Tennessee River”
The trio of cousins is the most awarded country music group in the genre’s history. “Tennessee River” is the group’s first No. 1 hit. Alabama singer Randy Owen wrote “Tennessee River.” The radio smash set them on the path for a record-breaking 43 No. 1 hits and 80 million albums sold.
Waylon Jennings, “Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)”
Those of us who grew up in the 1980s know there was no escaping the Duke boys – thus Waylon Jennings and this song. The lyrics, “Just some good ole boys, never meaning no harm,” blared every Friday night on network television as Bo and Luke Duke climbed in the windows of their orange Dodge Charger and drove off to find trouble.
Jennings wrote and recorded the song, which became an undeniable piece of pop culture history. It was his second single from his album Music Man and topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1980.
Kenny Rogers, “Lady”
“Lady” is one of the most successful songs in Kenny Rogers’ career – and writer Lionel Richie never intended it for Rogers. Richie first pitched it to the Commodores, who passed on the song. When “Lady” made its way to Rogers, the singer once said he and Richie planned to merge Richie’s R&B background with Rogers’ country sensibilities to meet somewhere in pop.
After Rogers released “Lady” in 1980, Richie recorded the song in 1988, and then the pair sang it together for Richie’s collaboration album Tuskegee in 2012.
(Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)
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