Country Music Quiz
Cash, Dolly, Garth, Shania and the Opry: 15 questions on the songs and stars of country music.
Which Tennessee city, home of the Grand Ole Opry, is nicknamed Music City?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Nashville
Nashville earned the Music City nickname as the home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Music Row district of recording studios and record labels.
Memphis, at the other end of Tennessee, is associated with blues, soul and Elvis Presley's Sun Records rather than country.
Who wrote and first recorded "I Will Always Love You", later a huge hit for Whitney Houston?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" in 1973 as a farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner, and it topped the country chart for her in 1974 and again in 1982.
Elvis Presley wanted to record it, but Parton refused when his manager demanded half the publishing rights, a decision that later earned her millions.
Which country singer was famously known as the Man in Black?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash wore black on stage for most of his career and explained why in the 1971 song "Man in Black", citing the poor, the imprisoned and soldiers lost in war.
Cash is one of the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Which 1990s superstar had hits with "Friends in Low Places" and "The Dance"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks released both songs on his 1990 album No Fences, which sold more than 17 million copies in the US and powered country's crossover boom of the early 1990s.
Brooks is the only artist with nine albums certified diamond by the RIAA, more than The Beatles.
Which Canadian singer released the 1997 album Come On Over, featuring "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Shania Twain
Shania Twain's Come On Over, produced by her then husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, sold more than 40 million copies and is the best-selling country album of all time.
Twain grew up in Timmins, Ontario, and took the name Shania, said to mean "on my way" in Ojibwe, when she signed her first record deal.
Which country star won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005 before releasing the album Some Hearts?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood won American Idol in May 2005, and Some Hearts, with "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", became the best-selling solo female country debut in history.
Underwood has co-hosted the CMA Awards 12 times, and her Idol audition song was Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me".
Luke Combs's 2023 hit "Fast Car" was a cover of a 1988 song by which singer-songwriter?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Tracy Chapman
Combs's faithful cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Chapman became the first Black songwriter to win the CMA Award for Song of the Year.
Chapman and Combs performed the song together at the 2024 Grammy Awards, her first televised performance in years.
At which California prison did Johnny Cash record a famous live album in January 1968?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Folsom
At Folsom Prison, recorded in the prison cafeteria on January 13, 1968, revived Cash's career and gave him a No. 1 country hit with the live version of "Folsom Prison Blues".
He followed it a year later with At San Quentin, which produced the novelty hit "A Boy Named Sue".
Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson recorded together under what name?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Highwaymen
The four outlaw country legends formed The Highwaymen in 1985, taking the name from their chart-topping Jimmy Webb cover "Highwayman", and released three albums together.
The Traveling Wilburys were a rock supergroup featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.
Who wrote "Crazy", the 1961 hit that became Patsy Cline's signature song?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy" while working as a Nashville songwriter, and Patsy Cline's recording reached No. 2 on the country chart and the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
Nelson also wrote "Hello Walls" for Faron Young and "Funny How Time Slips Away" in the same prolific early 1960s period.
Which singer had a crossover hit in 1978 with "The Gambler", a song about advice from a card player on a train?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers took Don Schlitz's "The Gambler" to No. 1 on the country chart, won a Grammy for it and spun the song into a series of five television films in which he played Brady Hawkes.
"The Gambler" was added to the US National Recording Registry in 2018 for its cultural significance.
The 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter told the life story of which country singer?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Loretta Lynn
Coal Miner's Daughter followed Loretta Lynn from her Kentucky childhood to country stardom, and Sissy Spacek won the Best Actress Oscar for playing her and singing all of the songs herself.
Patsy Cline appears in the film as Lynn's friend and mentor, played by Beverly D'Angelo, who did her own singing.
Which Texan singer is widely nicknamed the King of Country?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
George Strait
George Strait earned the title by sticking to traditional honky-tonk and western swing through every passing trend, racking up more No. 1 country singles than any other artist.
His 2014 concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington drew nearly 105,000 fans, a US record for an indoor concert at the time.
Which singer, who died at 29 on New Year's Day 1953, recorded "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Hey, Good Lookin'"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Hank Williams
Hank Williams recorded "Your Cheatin' Heart" in September 1952, and it was released weeks after his death in the back of his Cadillac on the way to a show in Ohio.
His son Hank Williams Jr. and grandson Hank Williams III both became recording artists, and he was among the first inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961.
In which year did the Grand Ole Opry begin, as a Saturday night radio barn dance on Nashville station WSM?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1925
The WSM Barn Dance first aired on November 28, 1925, with fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson, and announcer George D. Hay renamed it the Grand Ole Opry in 1927.
The show moved into the Ryman Auditorium in 1943 and stayed there for 31 years before relocating to the purpose-built Grand Ole Opry House.
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All Entertainment quizzes →About the Country Music Quiz
Country music has been broadcasting from Nashville since 1925, when a radio barn dance on WSM became the Grand Ole Opry. Since then it has given us Hank Williams, the Man in Black, a Tennessee theme park named after Dolly Parton and a 1990s boom in which Garth Brooks outsold almost every artist on Earth.
These 15 questions range across the genre's history: who wrote "Crazy" for Patsy Cline, where Johnny Cash recorded his famous prison album, which four legends formed The Highwaymen, and which 1988 song Luke Combs turned into a 2023 hit. The early questions suit anyone with a radio, and the later ones are for people who know their Opry from their Ryman.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
Who is known as the King of Country?
George Strait, the Texan singer who has charted more than 60 No. 1 country singles since the early 1980s, is widely nicknamed the King of Country.
When did the Grand Ole Opry start?
The Opry began on November 28, 1925, as the WSM Barn Dance radio show in Nashville and took the Grand Ole Opry name in 1927.
How hard is this country music quiz?
It is rated Medium: the first five questions are famous names and songs, the middle section covers classic artists, and the last few test real fans.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Which Tennessee city, home of the Grand Ole Opry, is nicknamed Music City?
Nashville Nashville earned the Music City nickname as the home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Music Row district of recording studios and record labels. Memphis, at the other end of Tennessee, is associated with blues, soul and Elvis Presley's Sun Records rather than country. - Who wrote and first recorded "I Will Always Love You", later a huge hit for Whitney Houston?
Dolly Parton Dolly Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" in 1973 as a farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner, and it topped the country chart for her in 1974 and again in 1982. Elvis Presley wanted to record it, but Parton refused when his manager demanded half the publishing rights, a decision that later earned her millions. - Which country singer was famously known as the Man in Black?
Johnny Cash Johnny Cash wore black on stage for most of his career and explained why in the 1971 song "Man in Black", citing the poor, the imprisoned and soldiers lost in war. Cash is one of the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. - Which 1990s superstar had hits with "Friends in Low Places" and "The Dance"?
Garth Brooks Garth Brooks released both songs on his 1990 album No Fences, which sold more than 17 million copies in the US and powered country's crossover boom of the early 1990s. Brooks is the only artist with nine albums certified diamond by the RIAA, more than The Beatles. - Which Canadian singer released the 1997 album Come On Over, featuring "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!"?
Shania Twain Shania Twain's Come On Over, produced by her then husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, sold more than 40 million copies and is the best-selling country album of all time. Twain grew up in Timmins, Ontario, and took the name Shania, said to mean "on my way" in Ojibwe, when she signed her first record deal. - Which country star won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005 before releasing the album Some Hearts?
Carrie Underwood Carrie Underwood won American Idol in May 2005, and Some Hearts, with "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", became the best-selling solo female country debut in history. Underwood has co-hosted the CMA Awards 12 times, and her Idol audition song was Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me". - Luke Combs's 2023 hit "Fast Car" was a cover of a 1988 song by which singer-songwriter?
Tracy Chapman Combs's faithful cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Chapman became the first Black songwriter to win the CMA Award for Song of the Year. Chapman and Combs performed the song together at the 2024 Grammy Awards, her first televised performance in years. - At which California prison did Johnny Cash record a famous live album in January 1968?
Folsom At Folsom Prison, recorded in the prison cafeteria on January 13, 1968, revived Cash's career and gave him a No. 1 country hit with the live version of "Folsom Prison Blues". He followed it a year later with At San Quentin, which produced the novelty hit "A Boy Named Sue". - Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson recorded together under what name?
The Highwaymen The four outlaw country legends formed The Highwaymen in 1985, taking the name from their chart-topping Jimmy Webb cover "Highwayman", and released three albums together. The Traveling Wilburys were a rock supergroup featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. - Who wrote "Crazy", the 1961 hit that became Patsy Cline's signature song?
Willie Nelson Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy" while working as a Nashville songwriter, and Patsy Cline's recording reached No. 2 on the country chart and the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Nelson also wrote "Hello Walls" for Faron Young and "Funny How Time Slips Away" in the same prolific early 1960s period. - Which singer had a crossover hit in 1978 with "The Gambler", a song about advice from a card player on a train?
Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers took Don Schlitz's "The Gambler" to No. 1 on the country chart, won a Grammy for it and spun the song into a series of five television films in which he played Brady Hawkes. "The Gambler" was added to the US National Recording Registry in 2018 for its cultural significance. - The 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter told the life story of which country singer?
Loretta Lynn Coal Miner's Daughter followed Loretta Lynn from her Kentucky childhood to country stardom, and Sissy Spacek won the Best Actress Oscar for playing her and singing all of the songs herself. Patsy Cline appears in the film as Lynn's friend and mentor, played by Beverly D'Angelo, who did her own singing. - Which Texan singer is widely nicknamed the King of Country?
George Strait George Strait earned the title by sticking to traditional honky-tonk and western swing through every passing trend, racking up more No. 1 country singles than any other artist. His 2014 concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington drew nearly 105,000 fans, a US record for an indoor concert at the time. - Which singer, who died at 29 on New Year's Day 1953, recorded "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Hey, Good Lookin'"?
Hank Williams Hank Williams recorded "Your Cheatin' Heart" in September 1952, and it was released weeks after his death in the back of his Cadillac on the way to a show in Ohio. His son Hank Williams Jr. and grandson Hank Williams III both became recording artists, and he was among the first inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961. - In which year did the Grand Ole Opry begin, as a Saturday night radio barn dance on Nashville station WSM?
1925 The WSM Barn Dance first aired on November 28, 1925, with fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson, and announcer George D. Hay renamed it the Grand Ole Opry in 1927. The show moved into the Ryman Auditorium in 1943 and stayed there for 31 years before relocating to the purpose-built Grand Ole Opry House.
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