This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1974.

Events

• March 16 — The Grand Ole Opry moves from the Ryman Auditorium, its home of the past 41 years, to the newly constructed 4,400-seat Grand Ole Opry House, on the Opryland complex. President Richard Nixon is a guest at the Ryman's last show. The Ryman would essentially sit vacant for the next two decades before being renovated in the early 1990s as a historical landmark and concert hall.
• July 17 — Don Rich, a key member of Buck Owens' backing band, The Buckaroos, is killed in a motorcycle crash on State Route 99 north of Bakersfield, California; he was 32. Owens is deeply saddened by Rich's death, and it will gravely affect his career for many years.^[1]
• October 17 — The pilot episode of Austin City Limits, featuring Willie Nelson, is recorded, and will air during PBS' 1975 pledge drive.

No dates

• Country purists, long troubled by a growing trend of pop music-influenced country, form the Association of Country Entertainers, as a result of the outcry over the 1974 Country Music Association awards program, where pop diva Olivia Newton-John won Female Vocalist of the Year, and Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass was awarded another Instrumental Group of the Year.
• The proliferation of No. 1 hits, as certified by Billboard, extends into 1974, when 40 songs reach the top of the Hot Country Singles chart. In fact, just nine songs – 10, counting Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December", which spent two of its four weeks at No. 1 in January – remain at the top spot for more than one week.
• Dolly Parton leaves Porter Wagoner's band and his weekly television show, after seven years, to embark on a solo career.
• Loretta Lynn releases "The Pill", a sexually frank song about birth control. The song is deemed too controversial and most country stations refuse to play it.

Top hits of the year

Number-one hits

United States

(as certified by Billboard)

Canada

(as certified by RPM)

Other major hits

Singles released by American artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

Top new album releases

Other top albums

Births

• January 7 — John Rich, singer-songwriter and member of Big & Rich.
• February 17 – Chuck Dauphin, American sports radio broadcaster and country music journalist (died 2019).^[2]
• February 17 — Bryan White, singer-songwriter from the 1990s.
• March 18 – Phillip Sweet, member of Little Big Town.
• May 23 – Jewel, multi-genre singer-songwriter who released the country album Perfectly Clear in 2008.
• June 6 – Uncle Kracker, rock singer who has had major country successes with "When the Sun Goes Down" (duet with Kenny Chesney) and "Smile."
• September 12 — Jennifer Nettles, lead singer of Sugarland.
• October 14 — Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks.
• November 21 — Kelsi Osborn, member of SHeDAISY.

Deaths

• January 2 — Tex Ritter, 68, silver screen cowboy and western artist (heart attack).
• April 26 – Tim Spencer, 65, member of the Sons of the Pioneers.
• July 17 — Don Rich, 32, right-hand man of Buck Owens and key member of the Buckaroos (motorcycle crash).

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Owen Bradley (1915–1998)
• Pee Wee King (1914–2000)

Major awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "A Love Song", Anne Murray
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends", Ronnie Milsap
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Fairytale", The Pointer Sisters
• Best Country Instrumental Performance — The Atkins - Travis Traveling Show, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis
• Best Country Song — "A Very Special Love Song", Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson (Performer: Charlie Rich)

Juno Awards

• Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Stompin' Tom Connors
• Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Shirley Eikhard
• Country Group or Duo of the Year — Mercey Brothers

Academy of Country Music

• Entertainer of the Year — Mac Davis
• Song of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Don Wayne (Performer: Cal Smith)
• Single of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Cal Smith
• Album of the Year — Back Home Again, John Denver
• Top Male Vocalist — Merle Haggard
• Top Female Vocalist — Loretta Lynn
• Top Vocal Duo — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
• Top New Male Vocalist — Mickey Gilley
• Top New Female Vocalist — Linda Ronstadt

Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year — Charlie Rich
• Song of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Don Wayne (Performer: Cal Smith)
• Single of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Cal Smith
• Album of the Year — A Very Special Love Song, Charlie Rich
• Male Vocalist of the Year — Ronnie Milsap
• Female Vocalist of the Year — Olivia Newton-John
• Vocal Duo of the Year — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
• Vocal Group of the Year — The Statler Brothers
• Instrumentalist of the Year — Don Rich
• Instrumental Group of the Year — Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass