Country music has a long, unfortunate history of prioritizing men’s voices over women’s. Female country music artists have been in the minority in radio airplay ever since radio airplay came into existence. When a woman’s song gets banned by a radio station for whatever reason, this adds yet another disadvantage. (On top of the heap of obstacles that woman is already facing.)
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Moreover, mathematically speaking, it feels like there are more songs by female country artists that were banned from the radio than by their male counterparts, simply because there are fewer songs to choose from, so any bans add up quickly.
Here are ten notable examples of songs by female country artists that were once banned from the radio. And yes, Loretta Lynn does have the first three spots.
“The Pill” by Loretta Lynn
When it comes to getting songs banned on the radio, Loretta Lynn is one of the most decorated female country artists of all time. Her 1975 track, “The Pill”, celebrated the independence and bodily autonomy that oral contraception could give a woman. But in 1975, no one was ready—or willing—to hear that, so radio stations across the country banned it.
“Rated X” by Loretta Lynn
Three years earlier, Loretta Lynn released a song lamenting the double standards men and women face after a divorce. Lynn was defending women, who people often judge more harshly than their ex-husbands. Despite radio stations banning this 1972 track, the people proved they wanted to listen anyway, pushing “Rated X” to the top of the charts with the power of spite.
“Fist City” by Loretta Lynn
Okay, okay, last Loretta Lynn one. This particular track from 1968 was far less sexual than the other two. Lynn wasn’t singing about her own sexuality. She was singing about beating up the woman who decided to explore—or at least try to explore—her sexuality with Lynn’s husband while Lynn was away on tour. Radio stations deemed the song too violent.
“Bargain Store” by Dolly Parton
The title track to female country artist Dolly Parton’s fifteenth studio album was banned by country radio stations over what many deejays perceived to be a subtle reference to prostitution. “The bargain store is open, come inside / You can easily afford the price / Love is all you need to purchase the merchandise / and I can guarantee you’ll be completely satisfied.”
“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” by Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells walked so Loretta Lynn could run, so the rest of the women on this list could sprint. Wells’ 1952 hit, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”, was one of the first instances of a female country artist sharing her side of the story. The song challenged the idea that women were always to blame for heartache, and radio stations responded by banning it.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé
Every time a new subgenre of country music comes out, someone will complain that it isn’t country enough. In 2024, the album that got everyone up in arms was Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s crossover country album. Some radio stations not-so-silently banned the album’s lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em”, claiming the song wasn’t country enough to qualify for radio airplay.
“Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks
Years before the then-Dixie Chicks would be blacklisted for speaking out against the president, they were causing pearl-clutchers everywhere to, well, clutch their pearls over their 1999 track, “Goodbye Earl”. In this writer’s humble opinion, “Goodbye Earl” is a heartwarming story about the power of female friendship. But no one asked me, and the lengthy descriptions of premeditated murder got the song banned anyway.
“Girl Crush” by Little Big Town
Country music has always catered to a more conservative demographic. That was made crystal clear in the mid-aughts, when Little Big Town’s hit song, “Girl Crush”, started being pulled from radio airplay out of fear that the song was too homosexual. Even though the “girl crush” bit is just a way to reference a failed, presumably heterosexual relationship, some radio stations still banned it.
“Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves
Yet another instance where conservative ideology overrode what was popular at the time: “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves. This bubbly alt-country number speaks freely about loving whomever you want and “following your arrow wherever it points.” But that “love whomever” bit gave pause to some of the more homophobic corners of the country music world.
“Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood
Closing out this list of female country songs banned from the radio is an entry with an asterisk. A Canadian radio station did ban Carrie Underwood’s music, including “Before He Cheats”. But it was only because her husband, a hockey player, was transferred from Ottawa’s team to Nashville. The song had been out for years by this point, and it was more of a joke than anything. But according to Underwood’s husband, it still got under the singer’s skin a bit.
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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