From January To December: The Biggest Country Music Stories Of 2025
on Dec 30, 2025
2025 Provided Some Of Country Music’s Biggest Moments
From January 1, 2025 until today, country music has had some pretty massive moments. From babies being born, to tragic deaths, to incredible performances, and all the other moments in between, we covered it.
We are breaking country music’s biggest moments down by month. Check out our list below.
January – Carrie Underwood Sings A Cappella At The Presidential Inaguration
2025 kicked off with a huge event: President Donald Trump’s inauguration. There were many country music singers at the different celebratory events including Billy Ray Cyrus, Rascal Flatts, Lee Greenwood, Jason Aldean, but the only artist who represented country music during the actual inauguration ceremony was Carrie Underwood.
While a Carrie Underwood performance at the inauguration would have likely topped this list no matter what, the way she handled a technical difficulty is what pushed this moment past the rest. She was scheduled to perform “America The Beautiful” at the event, but she had rehearsed with backing music. However, during the event, the music was not playing due to a technical difficulty.
Looking at a person in charge, she mouthed, “I can just sing it,” and sing it she did. With no music, or a cappella, Underwood flawlessly delivered a patriotic rendition of “America The Beautiful” that had everyone talking.
Watch the incredible moment below.
February – Beyonce Wins Best Country Album At Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards took place on February 2, 2025 in Los Angeles. Comedian Trevor Noah hosted the show for the fifth straight year. While most of the country categories were given out at a pre-show ceremony, one country category was handed out during the Primetime live broadcast: Best Country Album.
In a move that surprised even Beyoncé herself, presenter Taylor Swift announced the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer as the winner of Best Country Album for Cowboy Carter. She was up against Post Malone (F-1 Trillion), Kacey Musgraves (Deeper Well), Chris Stapleton (Higher), and Lainey Wilson (Whirlwind).
This came as a shock to country fans everywhere, which is why this moment was the biggest country music moment of the entire month of February.
Watch her crowning moment below.
March – Morgan Wallen’s “Get Me To God’s Country” SNL Moment
Morgan Wallen was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 29, 2025. The host was recent Academy Award winner for Best Actress, Mikey Madison.
Wallen performed his hit songs “I’m the Problem” and “Just In Case,” which were songs from his album that wasn’t even released yet! The screen behind him also flashed the track listing, which is a wild thing to think that the album, which was released on May 16, 2025, wasn’t even out yet! It’s now one of the most-listened to albums of the entire year.
As Madison was wrapping up the show, she thanked Wallen and everyone involved in the show. Usually the host and musical guest stays on stage and hugs all the cast members as the SNL band plays them off, but Wallen made headlines because he hugged Madison and then just walked off stage towards the camera.
Later in the evening, Wallen posted an Instagram Story showing a plane at the airport. His caption read, “Get me to God’s country.”
April – American Idol Contestant John Foster Performs Original Song Dedicated To Late Friends
Season 23 of American Idol took the country by storm this year. With the addition of Carrie Underwood on the judging panel alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. A few of the fan favorite contestants included Jamal Roberts (the eventual winner), John Foster (runner-up), and Breanna Nix (second runner-up).
John Foster was somewhat of a wildcard, only receiving one yes after his initial audition from Carrie Underwood. Carrie begged Bryan to change his mind to a yes, and he did! This paid off because the Idol fans fell in love with his traditional country sound, voting him all the way until the finale!
RELATED: 18-Year-Old Changes Luke Bryan’s “No” To A “Yes” With Passionate Conway Twitty Cover
After reaching the Top 20, Foster debuted an original song titled “Tell That Angel I Love Her,” which he wrote about his best friend Maggie Dunn and another good friend Caroline Gill, who both sadly lost their lives too soon. Both Caroline and Maggie’s parents were in the audience when he performed the song that brought tears to everyone’s eyes. Watch the moment below.
Read more about Foster’s friends here.
May – Phil Robertson’s Death
While Phil Robertson isn’t necessarily involved in country music, we felt his passing deserved a spot on this list because it was one of the biggest stories of the entire year.
Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Robertson family from the show Duck Dynasty and owner of Duck Commander, passed away on May 25th, several months after he was diagnosed with blood disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.
“We celebrate today that our father, husband, and grandfather, Phil Robertson, is now with the Lord. He reminded us often of the words of Paul, ‘you do not grieve like those who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him,” the family wrote in a statement.
Tributes from all of Phil’s family members took over social media, as well as tributes from country stars who knew him.
June – Lauren Alaina Has Her First Child
Lauren Alaina and her husband, Cam Arnold, welcomed their first child on June 11, and it was the biggest story of the month! Her daughter, Beni Doll, was born at 8:44 am that day and changed the singer’s entire world.
She has always been very open about her life and since having a child, that is no different. Fans have been loving her honest take on motherhood, showing all sides instead of just the things you normally see on social media.
Congrats to Lauren and Cam on the arrival of Baby Beni!
July – Miranda Lambert’s Skirt Makes Headlines
The biggest story of July, of course, had to be from a live show seeing at most country artists are on tour in the summer!
Morgan Wallen set out on his massive I’m The Problem Tour, where he had several superstar acts as his openers. Miranda Lambert opened for him on select dates and one of those dates was on Friday, July 25, in Seattle, Washington.
About halfway through her 15-song set, Lambert performed her 2019 song “Bluebird,” which was included on her album Wildcard. A fan filmed her performing the song and uploaded it to TikTok alongside the caption, “Miranda Lambert got up close and personal with us in the pit! Love this song!”
The TikTok user was not exaggerating, and people online took notice. The video now has over 3.2 million views, with many other videos made about the moment. Her jean skirt was a bit short and fans in the pit saw a bit more than Lambert probably intended.
A few days later, Lambert responded to the video perfectly in a TikTok video that said, “I’ve been warning y’all about my backyard swagger since 2014,” alongside a kissing emoji. The video was filmed from behind as she walked on stage in Seattle.
August – Brandon Blackstock Passes Away
The biggest story of August was once again a sad one. Brandon Blackstock, the stepson of Reba McEntire and ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson, passed away at the age of 48 on August 7th.
McEntire was married to Blackstock’s father, Narvel Blackstock, for 26 years and helped raise Brandon and his siblings.
Not only was Brandon in the country music world due to his family ties, he was also a manager for several country artists over the years including Rascal Flatts and Blake Shelton.
September – Nicole Kidman And Keith Urban Split
Despite the news dropping on the very last day of September, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s break-up took us all by surprise and became the biggest story of the month!
News of their split broke on September 29th and just one day later on September 30, Kidman filed for divorce. The divorce filing revealed the details, which were decided upon by both parties over a month prior.
Due to the shocking nature of the split, we aren’t surprised why this story was the biggest of the month.
October – Cody Johnson Cancels Tour & Has Emergency Surgery
On October 7th, Cody Johnson revealed that he had to cancel the rest of his 2025 tour due to a burst ear drum, he suffered following a “severe upper respiratory and sinus infection.”
He revealed he’d need “immediate surgery” and that the healing process would take many weeks. During this time, he is not allowed to sing otherwise he could damage it worse.
He had to cancel six shows and scrap his likely-planned CMA Awards performance.
Fresh out of surgery, Johnson posted a video of himself thanking fans for their understanding and support, and to let them know he was already on the road to recovery.
November – Jelly Roll Shaves His Beard
On November 17, Jelly Roll took his health journey a step too far (if you ask his family). The singer has lost well over 200 pounds and wanted to show off his jawline a bit.
The last time he went clean-shaven was well over 10 years ago because his wife, Bunnie XO says they’ve been together going on 10 years and she has never seen him without facial hair!
Watch the video Bunnie posted of Jelly Roll shaving, which even scared his teenage daughter!
And check out Jelly Roll’s reveal below!
December – George Strait Is Honored At The Kennedy Center Honors
On December 6, President Trump handed country legend George Strait and the rest of the Kennedy Center Honorees with medallions in the Oval Office.
Expressing that he was pleased to invite the 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees to the storied Oval Office, Trump said, “This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted, and unified millions and millions of Americans.”
While presenting Strait with his, Trump complimented The King of Country’s hair, which is rarely seen since he is always wearing a cowboy hat!
Each honoree was paid tribute to by select artists, and the broadcast was aired on December 23rd.
Brooks & Dunn performed “Amarillo By Morning,” while Miranda Lambert sang “Run,” and Vince Gill honored The King with “Troubadour.”
It was quite an eventful year! What was your biggest country music moment of 2025?
