1962 in country music

Events

• September 25 – Loretta Lynn is inducted into the Grand Ole Opry at 30 years of age.
• November 3 — Billboard renames its Hot C&W Sides chart "Hot Country Singles," a name it will keep for the next 27 years. The chart length remains 30 positions.

  No dates

• Rhythm and blues singer Ray Charles releases his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The album of pop-styled covers of country standards is vastly influential in the genre.

  Top hits of the year

Number one hits

United States

• 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
• 2^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
• A^ First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• B^ Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• C^' Only Billboard'' No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

  Other major hits

Top new album releases

Other top releases

Births

• January 13 — Trace Adkins, singer-songwriter whose style meshes honky-tonk and dance-influenced rock.
• February 4 — Clint Black, first major new star of the 1990s and key player in the new traditionalist movement.
• February 6 — Richie McDonald, former lead singer of Lonestar.
• February 7 — Garth Brooks, the man who revolutionalized country music and forever changed its direction during the 1990s.
• February 11 — Sheryl Crow, pop singer who has also had substantial success as a country singer starting in the 2000s.
• April 2 — Billy Dean, contemporary-styled singer-songwriter who had the peak of his success in the 1990s.
• May 2 — Ty Herndon, contemporary-styled singer who had most of his success in the mid-to-late 1990s.
• August 23 — Emilio Navaira, singer-songwriter of country and Tejano music.
• November 26 — Linda Davis, prominent backing vocalist who had a series of solo hits in the 1990s.

  Deaths

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Roy Acuff

  Major awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Country and Western Recording — "Funny Way of Laughin'", Burl Ives

  Other links

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame