1997 in country music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1997.
Events
- July 12 — The song, "It's Your Love," by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill becomes the first song in 20 years to spend six weeks atop Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The last song to do so was 1977's "Luckenbach, Texas " by Waylon Jennings. In that span, more than 750 songs had reached No. 1 on the country chart, a majority of them for just one week. The song sparked a renewed wave of songs that spend at least five weeks at No. 1, thanks in part to newer chart tracking methods and programming changes at country radio stations.
No dates
- Jimmie Rodgers is elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- Trisha Yearwood and LeAnn Rimes both record the song "How Do I Live" for the movie Con Air. Producers from the film ask Rimes to record it first but feel her version is not what they have in mind due to the performance itself and her young age. Yearwood then records the song and releases at the same time Rimes releases her song. Although Rimes' version peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, her version is shunned from the country charts yet reaches No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Yearwood's version, meanwhile, peaks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and also makes the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, as well as reaching No. 1 in Canada and No. 1 on the US Radio & Records chart.
Top hits of the year
Singles released by American artists
Singles released by Canadian artists
Top new album releases
| US | CAN | Album | Artist | Record Label |
| 45 | 8 | An Intimate Evening with Anne Murray | Anne Murray | Capitol |
| 24 | Back to You | Anita Cochran | Warner Bros. | |
| 23 | 31 | Be Good at It | Neal McCoy | Atlantic |
| 23 | 11 | ' | Billy Ray Cyrus | Mercury Nashville |
| 4 | 3 | ' | Collin Raye | Epic |
| 8 | The Best of John Denver Live | John Denver | Legacy | |
| 7 | 26 | Big Time | Trace Adkins | Capitol Nashville |
| 24 | Blink of an Eye | Ricochet | Columbia | |
| 1 | Butterfly Kisses | Bob Carlisle | DMG | |
| 1 | 1 | Carrying Your Love with Me | George Strait | MCA Nashville |
| 16 | A Celebration of Life/The Last Recordings | John Denver | River North | |
| 4 | CMT Canada '97 | Various Artists | BMG | |
| 4 | 6 | The Coast Is Clear | Tracy Lawrence | Atlantic |
| 9 | 8 | Collection | Wynonna | Curb/MCA Nashville |
| 1 | 1 | Come On Over | Shania Twain | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 15 | 11 | Complicated | Tanya Tucker | Capitol Nashville |
| 12 | A Country Superstar Christmas | Various Artists | Hip-O | |
| 16 | 28 | Crazy Nights | Lonestar | BNA |
| 5 | 2 | Dancin' on the Boulevard | Alabama | RCA Nashville |
| 8 | Dream Walkin | Toby Keith | Mercury Nashville | |
| 11 | Everything's Alright | Charlie Major | ViK. | |
| 1 | 1 | Everywhere | Tim McGraw | Curb |
| 4 | 7 | Evolution | Martina McBride | RCA Nashville |
| 19 | The Gift | Jim Brickman | Windham Hill | |
| 10 | Greatest Country Love Songs | Various Artists | MCA | |
| 8 | Greatest Hits | Diamond Rio | Arista Nashville | |
| 5 | Greatest Hits | Neal McCoy | Atlantic | |
| 5 | 11 | Greatest Hits | John Michael Montgomery | Atlantic |
| 6 | Greatest Hits | Pam Tillis | Arista Nashville | |
| 17 | Greatest Hits… and Then Some | Aaron Tippin | RCA Nashville | |
| 2 | 1 | The Greatest Hits Collection | Brooks & Dunn | Arista Nashville |
| 5 | Here's Your Sign | Bill Engvall | Warner Bros. | |
| 24 | A Holiday Album to Benefit St. Jude | Various Artists | BNA | |
| 10 | I Will Stand | Kenny Chesney | BNA | |
| 12 | 12 | If I Don't Stay the Night | Mindy McCready | BNA |
| 22 | 32 | Just Between You and Me | The Kinleys | Epic |
| 11 | Kickin' Country 4 | Various Artists | Sony | |
| 5 | 9 | Labor of Love | Sammy Kershaw | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 1 | Leahy | Leahy | Virgin | |
| 9 | Lee Ann Womack | Lee Ann Womack | Decca Nashville | |
| 25 | 23 | Let Me In | Chely Wright | MCA Nashville |
| 8 | 10 | Lila | Lila McCann | Asylum |
| 9 | 31 | Long Stretch of Lonesome | Patty Loveless | Epic |
| 8 | Love & Gravity | BlackHawk | Arista Nashville | |
| 15 | Love Travels | Kathy Mattea | Mercury/PolyGram | |
| 17 | 13 | Michael Peterson | Michael Peterson | Reprise |
| 1 | New Country 4 | Various Artists | Warner | |
| 4 | 5 | Nothin' but the Taillights | Clint Black | RCA Nashville |
| 15 | One of the Fortunate Few | Delbert McClinton | Rising Tide | |
| 5 | 17 | The Other Side | Wynonna | Curb/Universal |
| 50 | 1 | Outside the Frame | Paul Brandt | Reprise |
| 17 | Playin' for Keeps | Jason McCoy | Universal | |
| 7 | 15 | The Right Place | Bryan White | Asylum |
| 25 | Roots and Wings | James Bonamy | Epic | |
| 4 | 7 | Rumor Has It | Clay Walker | Giant |
| 1 | 1 | Sevens | Garth Brooks | Capitol Nashville |
| 9 | Shakin' Things Up | Lorrie Morgan | BNA | |
| 8 | Six Days on the Road | Sawyer Brown | Curb | |
| 4 | So Long So Wrong | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Rounder | |
| 1 | 1 | A Collection of Hits | Trisha Yearwood | MCA Nashville |
| 22 | 16 | Stone Country: Songs of the Rolling Stones | Various Artists | Tommy Boy |
| 48 | 22 | Sunday Morning to Saturday Night | Matraca Berg | Rising Tide |
| 19 | Takin' the Country Back | John Anderson | Mercury Nashville | |
| 25 | Thank God for Believers | Mark Chesnutt | Decca Nashville | |
| 1 | Tremolo | Blue Rodeo | Warner | |
| 1 | 1 | ' | LeAnn Rimes | Curb |
| 8 | 8 | Under the Covers | Dwight Yoakam | Reprise |
| 9 | What My Heart Already Knows | Julian Austin | ViK. | |
| 1 | 1 | '' | LeAnn Rimes | Curb |
Other top albums
Deaths
- January 8 – Smiley Bates, 59, Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
- January 21 — Colonel Tom Parker, 87, manager of prolific country singers Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow, comedian Minnie Pearl
- June 19 — Bobby Helms, 62, singer who enjoyed his peak popularity in 1957; best known for "Jingle Bell Rock."
- August 16 – Donn Reynolds, 76, singer-songwriter and country yodeler; established 2 yodeling world records.
- October 12 — John Denver, 53, country crossover artist of the 1970s; also a singer and songwriter.
- December 21 — Amie Comeaux, 21, a newcomer artist of the mid '90s.
- December 31 — Floyd Cramer, 64, prolific session pianist.
Hall of Fame inductees
Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Josh Graves
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Harlan Howard
- Brenda Lee
- Cindy Walker
Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Family Brown
- Sam Sniderman
Major awards
Grammy Awards
- Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "How Do I Live", Trisha Yearwood
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Pretty Little Adriana", Vince Gill
- Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Looking In the Eyes of Love", Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Best Country Collaboration with Vocals — "In Another's Eyes", Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood
- Best Country Instrumental Performance — "Little Liza Jane", Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Best Country Song — "Butterfly Kisses", Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas
- Best Country Album — Unchained, Johnny Cash
- Best Bluegrass Album — So Long So Wrong, Alison Krauss & Union Station
Juno Awards
- Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Paul Brandt
- Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Shania Twain
- Country Group or Duo of the Year — Farmer's Daughter
Academy of Country Music
- Entertainer of the Year — Garth Brooks
- Song of the Year — "It's Your Love," Stephony Smith
- Single of the Year — "It's Your Love," Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
- Album of the Year — Carrying Your Love with Me, George Strait
- Top Male Vocalist — George Strait
- Top Female Vocalist — Trisha Yearwood
- Top Vocal Duo or Group — Brooks & Dunn
- Top New Male Vocalist — Kenny Chesney
- Top New Female Vocalist — Lee Ann Womack
- Top New Vocal Duo or Group — The Kinleys
- Video of the Year — "It's Your Love", Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
- Vocal Event of the Year — "It's Your Love", Tim McGraw with Faith Hill
ARIA Awards