Right now, everyone is talking about Lil’ Nas X and whether “Old Town Road” is or is not a country song. For the record, according to Live X Live listeners, at least the version where he collaborates with Billy Ray Cyrus is – it started on Nashville Now and so many people hit the heart button, we put it on Country Hits too, and from there it became so popular with our country listeners, it’s now in the top 40 country songs on our Weekly Country Countdown.
But Lil’ Nas X isn’t the first artist from outside the genre to make a “country” song that got people arguing about what is and is not country, nor is he the first to add an unexpected country collaborator to the song. So we took a look at some of the most unexpected collaborations between country artists and those from other genres, dug up all the back stories, and put them together in a new station:
Remember the song that failed for Sting in pop, but when he added a country artist it became a hit? How about the boy band and the man band that worked together to make a pop hit one in country, too? Or the pot-and-KFC-fueled friendship that resulted in THREE unlikely collaborations? There’s a Columbian with a hillbilly, a singing competition winner and a rap star, and a rock legend who did a whole album with a bluegrass legend. Those stories are all in there, along with others that have fascinating stories.
You gotta hear it! And let me know what you think! Tweet us at @livexlive and @jesswrightradio.
