In recent years, duets have made a strong showing on Billboard’s country charts–and in particular, male-female duets have had a moment, whether that be both vocalists fully trading off verses, or one vocalist only contributing harmonies.
Chart-toppers over the past three years have included the Dustin Lynch and MacKenzie Porter duet “Thinking ‘Bout You,” the Jason Aldean/Carrie Underwood collab “If I Didn’t Love You,” Kane and Katelyn Brown’s “Thank God,” Kelsea Ballerini with Kenny Chesney on “Half of My Hometown,” and Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson’s “Never Say Never,” to name a few.
Currently, the Justin Moore-Priscilla Block song “You, Me & Whiskey” is in the top 5 of the Billboard Country Airplay chart (dated Aug. 5, 2023); also on the chart is the new Carly Pearce track “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” featuring vocals from Chris Stapleton and the Jelly Roll/Wilson collab “Save Me.”
Perhaps more than any other genre, duets have a deep, storied history within the canon of country music classics, with several male-female artist pairings crafting entire albums’ worth of duets.
George Jones and Tammy Wynette (who were married from 1969-1975) crafted nine studio albums as a vocal duo, while Jones also earned hit duets with Melba Montgomery and Margie Singleton. Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty made 10 studio albums together, while Bill Anderson created albums of duets with Mary Lou Turner and Jan Howard.
In 1984, Jones issued the album Ladies’ Choice, a collection of duets with female vocalists. In 2013, Willie Nelson released a similar album of all-female duet partners with To All the Girls…, while Texas artist Aaron Watson is working on Cover Girl, a collection of songs featuring women collaborators. In 2008 and 2009, CMT even hosted the competition show Can You Duet, which brought the duo Steel Magnolia into the spotlight.
Here, we look at some of country music’s top male-female duets over the years. These picks range from 1960s classics to 21st century hits, including everything from romance-charged, loved-up ballads, to humorous takes on long-term relationships and songs that encompass the emotional weight of love gone wrong.
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