Contempory - What Is It? 1990 - 2000

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With his debut on the national country music scene in 1989, singer and songwriter Clint Black would usher in a new sound that would define much of country music for the 1990s and beyond.

In the 1990s, country music became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks. The latter enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the decade. The RIAA has certified his recordings at a combined (128× platinum), denoting roughly 113 million U.S. shipments.

Mindy McCready, Jo Dee Messina, and the Dixie Chicks all released platinum selling albums in the 90s.

In the mid 1990s, country western music was influenced by the popularity of line dancing. This influence was so great that Chet Atkins was quoted as saying "The music has gotten pretty bad, I think. It's all that damn line dancing." By the end of the decade, however, at least one line dance choreographer complained that good country line dance music was no longer being released.