CountrymusicisablendofpopularmusicalformsoriginallyfoundintheSouthernUnitedStatesandtheAppalachianMountains.Ithasrootsintraditionalfolkmusic,Celticmusic,gospelmusic,andold-timemusicandevolvedrapidlyinthe1920s.Thetermcountrymusicbegantobeusedinthe1940swhentheearliertermhillbillymusicwasdeemedtobedegrading,andthetermwaswidelyembracedinthe1970s,whilecountryandWesternhasdeclinedinusesincethattime,exceptintheUnitedKingdomandIreland,whereitisstillcommonlyusedintheUnitedStates.

　　IntheSouthwesternUnitedStatesadifferentmixofethnicgroupscreatedthemusicthatbecametheWesternmusicofthetermcountryandWestern.(Capitalizing"Western"hereisgrammaticallycorrect,thought"country"wouldnotbe,accurately,astheformerisusedinapropernouncontext,asin,WesternUnitedStates,sincethiswasthepointbehindthetermWesternsongs.)

　　Countrymusichasproducedtwoofthetopsellingsoloartistsofalltime.ElvisPresley,whowasknownearlyonas“TheHillbillyCat”andwasaregularontheradioprogramLouisianaHayride,wentontobecomeadefiningfigureintheemerginggenreofrock'nroll.ContemporarymusicianGarthBrooks,with128millionalbumssold,isthetop-sellingsoloartistinU.S.history.

　　Whilealbumsalesofmostmusicalgenreshavedeclined,countrymusicexperiencedoneofitsbestyearsin2006,when,duringthefirstsixmonthsoftheyear,U.S.salesofcountryalbumsincreasedby17.7percentto36million.Moreover,countrymusiclisteningnationwidehasremainedsteadyforalmostadecade,reaching77.3millionadultseveryweekaccordingtotheradio-ratingsagencyArbitronInc.

　　Theterm"countrymusic"isusedtodescribemanystylesandsubgenres,suchasalternativecountry,madefamousbyGramParsons.