What was the first country song to reach number one in the UK?
The UK is a strange place in terms of music. It’s the leader of the pack in some cases, and embarrassingly late to the party in others. Country music is just one example.
While it’s only natural for the genre to still be the most popular within the confines of its native southern states of America, the country energy soon travelled through the airwaves and took over the world with its lilts and charms. But given that its original roots could be traced back to the folk ballads of Britain, it took far too long for this country to actually catch on.
Although the obvious staples of the genre, from Dolly Parton to Johnny Cash, have always been internationally popular, artists like these were long into their respective heydays by the time that the country canon finally boomed into the heart of the UK zeitgeist. It was well seeing that these isles were so obsessed with their own rock and pop exports, because it clearly left little room for anything much else.
The later years of the 1970s did a lot of heavy lifting in terms of moving things forward, however, as the first ever country number one landed in the UK charts in 1977. It was neither Parton nor cash who nabbed the coveted title, though, and instead Kenny Rogers with his longingly mournful hit, ‘Lucille’.
The track proved to be somewhat of a worldwide breakthrough for Rodgers, widening his sonic horizons and chances of success far beyond the 50 states. As ‘Lucille’ topped the charts in the UK, Canada, and South Africa, it also nabbed number one on the Billboard Country charts. But as far as the main top 200, it ran out of steam once it reached number five.
What did Kenny Rogers do for the popularity of country music in the UK?
‘Lucille’ marked a turning of the tide for Rogers in how country music was being exponentially exported all over the world, not least in the UK. After the tune hit the British top spot in 1977, it was then followed up by another chart-topper in the form of ‘Coward of the County’, released in 1980, alongside a slew of other seismic hits.
Yet on a personal level, the success also proved that Rogers’ gambles had been well worth the shot. It was only a year before the release of ‘Lucille’, in 1976, that he had decided to fly the nest of The First Edition and go solo as a bona fide country king. It was fair to say that any fears of squandering his potential were quickly put to bed.
Fast forward to today, and although it’s admittedly not Rogers storming the charts anymore, the influence of him and his contemporaries is everywhere as the UK is in the midst of a country surge. For better or worse, artists such as Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs have become the new kings of the crop purely because of the groundwork that people like Rogers laid before them.
It means that what started as a distinctly American musical tradition has taken on a completely global grip, with the UK in particular lapping up every last word. Fads may change and trends can famously live and die, but something feels different in the air now: country music is embedded in the heart of these isles forever.
