3 Songs That Were Country Hits Before They Found Mainstream Success

There’s something unparalleled about country storytelling. Even pop music fans can appreciate it every now and then. Here are some mainstream pop hits that were successful country songs first.

“I Swear” by All 4 One

If you’re a 90s R&B fan, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard All 4 One’s romantic ballad, “I Swear”. If you’re a 90s country fan, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard John Michael Montgomery‘s version as well. This song actually had trouble getting picked up by an artist because people thought “I Swear” was too pop. In a sense, I guess they were sort of on the money. “I Swear” ended up being a No. 1 hit on the US Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and the Billboard Hot 100.

“I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston

Everyone knows “I Will Always Love You”, but not everyone knows that this song was actually written by Dolly Parton. She released it first before it ever found its way to Houston. Parton released “I Will Always Love You” in 1974, and it reached the top spot on the US  Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, not once but twice. Before Houston recorded it for The Bodyguard film, which came out in 1992, it was actually almost recorded by entertainer extraordinaire Elvis Presley. However, the deal would have required Parton to sign over half of her publishing rights, which she was just not willing to do.

“…I said, I can’t do that. Something in my heart says, ‘Don’t do that.’ And I just didn’t do it […] He would have killed it,” she said in an interview with CMT. “But anyway, so he didn’t. Then when Whitney [Houston’s version] came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland.”

“Me And Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin

Before Janis Joplin took “Me And Bobby McGee” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, it was released by Kris Kristofferson, Kenny Rogers and his band, Roger Miller, and Gordon Lightfoot. The more country-leaning versions of the track found success through Lightfoot, who took it to No. 1 on the Canadian country chart in 1970. The previous year, Roger Miller took “Me And Bobby McGee” to No. 12 on the US country chart. Posthumously, after Joplin’s death by overdose, the song came out on her album Pearl.

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