Ken’s Top 20 Greatest Men In Country In The Last 20 Years

Last night I stumbled upon CMT's What's Your 20:  The Greatest Men In Country Music from 1990-2010.  I usually don't watch CMT, but I was curious so I watched a bit.

When Alan Jackson was #1 I was a little confused.  Yeah, he's had 50 top 10 hits on the radio, but George Straight has had 50+ number 1's?  Here's the list, and here's what I think it should be.Cmt's list: (from cmt.com)

1.  Alan Jackson

2.  George Strait

3. Tim McGraw

4.  Kenny Chesney

5.  Keith Urban

6.  Toby Keith

7.  Brad Paisley

8.  Blake Shelton

9.  Jason Aldean

10.  Garth Brooks

11.  Rascall Flatts

12.  Trace Adkins

13.  Johnny Cash

14.  Vince Gil

15.  Brooks & Dunn

16.  Willie Nelson

17.  Hank Williams Jr

18.  Dierks Bentley

19.  Randy Travis

20.  Zac Brown Band

Ok, so here is my list.  This isn't my favorits list, this is formed using my knowledge of country music and hit songs for the past 20 years.

1.  George Straight - He was big in the 80's, 90's, and still is!

2.  Kenny Chesney - I'm not even a huge fan of Kenny Chesney, but he's been on top for 10 years now

3.  Tim McGraw - Sells out concerts everywhere, now a big movie star to boot.

4.  Alan Jackson-  He had a great run and a talented artist but he hasn't had a big hit in a while.

5.  Garth Brooks - Yeah, he took off the last decade but he was EPIC in the 90's.  He would be number 1 easily if he hadn't have retired.

6. Brooks & Dunn -  The best duo ever, and no one will beat them with their amount of success.  They had plenty of hits in both decades.

7.  Toby Keith - He had his breakthrough with "Should've Been A Cowboy" in the mid -90's and then after his fight with the dixie chicks and 9/11 he's been country music's patriot.

8.  Brad Paisley -  One of the top artists today, and he's had tons of hits since 2000.

9.  Keith Urban -  Hardly did anything in the 90's, but in the 2000's to now, he's hot.  Women would agree.

10.  Blake Shelton -  I honestly think that Blake is the hottest star in country music today.  He would be #1 if this list was just about this year, but since it goes back 20 years, he rounds out the top ten.

11.  Rascal Flatts - They owned country music from 2004-2009.  They still maintain their prestige too.

12.  Trace Adkins - While most of his success came in the 2000's, he is the poster child for the rough n ready country music persona.

13.  Vince Gill -  Solid star throughout the 90's, and still is loved by country music.

14.  Montgomery Gentery (Not on CMT's LIST) How can you forget these guys?  They've had tons of hits in the last 10 years!

15.  Dierks Bentley -  Great artist, great guy, great songs.

16.  Jason Aldean -  Like Blake Shelton, I think Jason Aldean is one of the hottest starts today.  Since he's only been cranking out hits since 2005, he can't be put much higher.

17.  Randy Travis -  He's in the earlier years of this list and had some major success in the early 90's.

18.  Hank Williams, Jr -  Still a big star in country in the early 90s.

19.  Willie Nelson - Still touring, still making music, but his major heyday was back in the 70's and more in the 80's, outside of this list.

20.  Johnny Cash - He was active a bit in the 90's, and right before his death did some great recordings.  The man in black may arguably top the list for all time greatest men in country, but in the last 20 years he wasn't front and center.