CountrymusicisablendofpopularmusicalformsoriginallyfoundintheSouthernUnitedStatesandtheAppalachianMountains.Ithasrootsintraditionalfolkmusic,Celticmusic,gospelmusic,andold-timemusicandevolvedrapidlyinthe1920s.Thetermcountrymusicbegantobeusedinthe1940swhentheearliertermhillbillymusicwasdeemedtobedegrading,andthetermwaswidelyembracedinthe1970s,whilecountryandwesternhasdeclinedinusesincethattime,exceptintheUnitedKingdomandIreland,whereitisstillcommonlyused.[1]

　　IntheSouthwesternUnitedStatesadifferentmixofethnicgroupscreatedthemusicthatbecametheWesternmusicofthetermcountryandwestern.

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

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

　　Theterm"countrymusic"isusedtodescribemanystyles,genres,orsubgenres.