July 12 — The song, "It's Your Love," by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill becomes the first song in 20 years to spend six weeks atop Billboard magazineHot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The last song to do so was 1977's "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" by Waylon Jennings. In that span, more than 750 songs had reached No. 1 on the country chart, a majority of them for just one week. The song sparked a renewed wave of songs that spend at least five weeks at No. 1, thanks in part to newer chart tracking methods and programming changes at country radio stations.
August 7 - Garth Brooks plays a free concert at New York's Central Park, drawing over 1 million fans, with many dubbing it "Garthstock"; the special is broadcast on HBO, with its audience drawing 14.6 million. Billy Joel and Don McLean make special guest appearances.
November 4 - Shania Twain releases her third studio album, Come On Over. The album becomes the best-selling country album of all time, best-selling studio album by a female act, best-selling album by a Canadian and ninth best-selling album in the United States and worldwide.
Trisha Yearwood and LeAnn Rimes both record the song "How Do I Live" for the movie Con Air. Producers from the film ask Rimes to record it first but feel her version is not what they have in mind due to the performance itself and her young age. Yearwood then records the song and releases at the same time Rimes releases her song. Although Rimes' version peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, her version is shunned from the country charts yet reaches No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Yearwood's version, meanwhile, peaks at No. 2 on the BillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks chart and also makes the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, as well as reaching No. 1 in Canada and No. 1 on the US Radio & Records chart.
