1948 in country music

Events

• April 3 — Radio station KWKH of Shreveport, Louisiana airs the Louisiana Hayride for the first time.
• May 15 — Billboard begins a sales-based Best Selling Folk Retail Records chart, the magazine's second chart to track the popularity of country songs. The new chart complements the existing Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart, and begins a practice of multiple charts that will continue for the next 10 years.
• July 24 — Roy Acuff announces his intention to run for governor of Tennessee. Running as the Republican candidate, he will lose to Democratic candidate Gordon Browning in the November election.

  No dates

• Eddy Arnold dominates the Billboard charts, scoring five No. 1 songs. Only Jimmy Wakely's "One Has My Name " breaks Arnold's streak. Four other songs by Arnold also make the country charts.

  Top hits of the year

Number one hits

Other major hits

Top new album releases

Births

• January 28 — Hasse Andersson, Swedish country musician.
• February 8 — Dan Seals, singer-songwriter who successfully turned from pop music to country during the 1980s.
• March 23 — David Olney, American singer-songwriter.
• April 21 — Paul Davis, pop-styled singer-songwriter who had several hits during the 1980s.
• May 2 — Larry Gatlin, singer-songwriter who enjoyed mainstream success in the 1970s and 1980s.
• May 4 — Tim DuBois, music executive.
• May 18 — Joe Bonsall, member of the country-gospel group The Oak Ridge Boys.
• June 3 — Fred LaBour, also known as Too Slim, member of Riders in the Sky.
• June 8 — Mats Rådberg, Swedish country musician.
• September 26 — Olivia Newton-John, Australian-born pop vocalist who enjoyed major crossover success in country during the mid-1970s.
• October 2 — Chris LeDoux, world champion bareback rider who sang about the rodeo circuit and cowboy life.
• November 6 — Glenn Frey, one of the founding members of country-rock band Eagles.
• December 7 — Gary Morris, country-pop singer of the 1980s.
• December 25 — Barbara Mandrell, country-pop singer and multi-instrumentalist of the 1970s and 1980s; host of own television series.
• December 27 - Les Taylor, member of the 1980s group Exile.

  Deaths

• January 15 — Jack Guthrie, 32, folk-styled country singer best known for "Oklahoma Hills".
• September 15 — Vernon Dalhart, 55, pioneering influence of the 1920s.