Honky tonk is the rowdy, electric heart of country music—born in the working-class bars and dance halls of Texas and Oklahoma during the 1940s. Amplified steel guitars and shuffling rhythms replaced the acoustic restraint of earlier country, creating a sound built for jukeboxes, beer-soaked Saturday nights, and crowds too loud for subtlety. Where traditional country leaned pastoral and western swing stayed jazzy and orchestral, honky tonk was raw, direct, and unapologetically urban in spirit. It's the sound of heartbreak sung over a whiskey at closing time, pedal steel crying through cigarette smoke.
The genre's golden era gave us architects like Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Lefty Frizzell—voices that didn't croon so much as confess. The Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam pushed honky tonk's twang into harder, leaner territory with Telecaster bite, while George Jones perfected its emotional blueprint. Unlike the polished Nashville productions that came later, honky tonk stayed scrappy: simple arrangements, prominent steel guitar, and lyrics about drinking, cheating, and surviving with dignity intact.
Today's practitioners like Charley Crockett, Emily Nenni, and Wayne Hancock keep the spirit alive—proof that honky tonk isn't nostalgia but a living language for anyone who knows the jukebox never lies. If you need country music that doesn't apologize for its rough edges, this is where you start.
Click column headers to sort
List updated:
| #72 | ByHank Williams | Released:1952-09-12 | |||
| #82 | ByHank Williams | Released:1953-03-01 | |||
| #46 | ByRay Price | Released:1956-02-04 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #18 | ByCarl Smith | Released:1958 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #85 | ByJohnny Cash | Released:1960-09-15 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #83 | ByBuck Owens | Released:1961-08-28 | |||
| #51 | ByHank Snow | Released:1963-01-01 | honky tonk | ||
| #56 | ByRay Price | Released:1965-01-01 | honky tonk | ||
| #91 | ByRay Price | Released:1965 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #61 | ByJerry Lee Lewis | Released:1966-05-01 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #60 | ByRay Price | Released:1967 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #38 | ByJohnny Paycheck | Released:1968-01-01 | |||
| #50 | ByRay Price | Released:1968 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #70 | ByJerry Lee Lewis | Released:1969-01-01 | honky tonkcountry | ||
| #52 | ByJerry Lee Lewis | Released:1970-01-01 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #32 | ByMoe Bandy | Released:1974-07-08 | honky tonk | ||
| #36 | ByGeorge Jones | Released:1974-08-01 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #41 | ByMoe Bandy | Released:1974 | honky tonkcountry | ||
| #1 | ByGary Stewart | Released:1975-01-01 | honky tonk | ||
| #4 | ByLefty Frizzell | Released:1975 | |||
| #67 | ByRay Price | Released:1977 | |||
| #10 | ByHank Williams | Released:1978-01-01 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #8 | ByJohnny Paycheck | Released:1978-01-01 | |||
| #94 | ByHank Thompson | Released:1978 | honky tonk | ||
| #100 | ByJerry Lee Lewis | Released:1980-02-12 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #13 | ByGeorge Jones | Released:1980-09-01 | |||
| #22 | ByHank Thompson | Released:1980 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #30 | ByMickey Gilley | Released:1982 | |||
| #86 | ByDwight Yoakam | Released:1986-08-19 | |||
| #2 | ByGeorge Jones | Released:1987-10-13 | honky tonk | ||
| #21 | ByJohnny Horton | Released:1989-06-13 | |||
| #39 | ByBuck Owens | Released:1989-10-04 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #12 | ByTanya Tucker | Released:1990-08-07 | honky tonkcountry | ||
| #71 | ByRay Price | Released:1991-01-01 | |||
| #54 | ByKitty Wells | Released:1991-02-05 | |||
| #27 | ByCarl Smith | Released:1991 | classic countryhonky tonk | ||
| #15 | ByBuck Owens | Released:1992 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #19 | ByBuck Owens | Released:1992 | |||
| #29 | ByErnest Tubb | Released:1992 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #37 | ByJohn Anderson | Released:1993-06-22 | |||
| #34 | ByJunior Brown | Released:1993-08-24 | |||
| #24 | ByLoretta Lynn | Released:1994-09-13 | honky tonk | ||
| #57 | ByHank Williams | Released:1995-04-18 | |||
| #7 | ByDwight Yoakam | Released:1995-05-23 | |||
| #43 | ByBR5-49 | Released:1996-04-30 | honky tonkrockabilly | ||
| #17 | ByBR5-49 | Released:1996-09-17 | |||
| #25 | ByMerle Haggard | Released:1996 | |||
| #40 | ByRay Price | Released:1997 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #11 | ByWillie Nelson | Released:1998-07-14 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #59 | ByHank Williams | Released:1998-09-17 | |||
| #64 | ByWayne Hancock | Released:1999-01-01 | honky tonkrockabilly | ||
| #80 | ByThe Derailers | Released:1999-07-13 | |||
| #53 | ByWayne Hancock | Released:1999 | honky tonkrockabilly | ||
| #26 | ByDwight Yoakam | Released:2000-05-30 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #98 | ByDurwood Haddock | Released:2000-07-21 | honky tonk | ||
| #47 | ByTanya Tucker | Released:2000-09-26 | |||
| #55 | ByKevin Fowler | Released:2000-11-28 | |||
| #92 | ByWayne Hancock | Released:2001 | |||
| #87 | ByJosie Kreuzer | Released:2002-01-01 | |||
| #49 | ByHank Snow | Released:2003-01-29 | classic countryhonky tonk | ||
| #62 | ByThe Derailers | Released:2003-03-25 | |||
| #89 | ByAsleep At The Wheel | Released:2003-04-01 | |||
| #84 | ByWayne Hancock | Released:2003-08-19 | |||
| #6 | ByDwight Yoakam | Released:2004-07-27 | |||
| #68 | ByBR5-49 | Released:2004 | |||
| #73 | ByGranger Smith | Released:2005-05-11 | honky tonk | ||
| #81 | ByDerailers | Released:2006-01-01 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #58 | ByBR5-49 | Released:2006-01-10 | |||
| #14 | ByErnest Tubb | Released:2006-06-06 | |||
| #76 | ByWayne Hancock | Released:2006-10-10 | |||
| #79 | ByAsleep At The Wheel | Released:2006-11-14 | |||
| #63 | ByRay Price | Released:2007-05-29 | |||
| #48 | ByThe Derailers | Released:2007-07-31 | honky tonk | ||
| #23 | ByDwight Yoakam | Released:2007-10-23 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #90 | ByMarseille Figs | Released:2007-11-19 | americanahonky tonk | ||
| #33 | ByWayne Hancock | Released:2009-04-21 | |||
| #75 | ByBuck Owens | Released:2013 | |||
| #9 | ByLuke Bell | Released:2016-06-17 | honky tonk | ||
| #35 | BySam Outlaw | Released:2017-04-14 | |||
| #66 | ByJason Eady | Released:2017-04-21 | |||
| #95 | ByMike Teardrop Trio | Released:2017-04-21 | honky tonk | ||
| #44 | ByThe Country Side of Harmonica Sam | Released:2017-05-05 | honky tonk | ||
| #45 | ByThe Country Side Of Harmonica Sam | Released:2017-05-05 | honky tonk | ||
| #74 | ByJames Carothers | Released:2017-05-05 | honky tonkoutlaw country | ||
| #42 | ByJon Wolfe | Released:2017-06-16 | contemporary countryhonky tonk | ||
| #88 | ByGethen Jenkins | Released:2017-07-14 | |||
| #3 | ByCharley Crockett | Released:2017-09-08 | honky tonk | ||
| #31 | ByLee Ann Womack | Released:2017-10-27 | |||
| #78 | ByKristina Murray | Released:2017-11-27 | alternative countryhonky tonk | ||
| #96 | ByDallas Moore | Released:2018-03-02 | |||
| #69 | ByJason Boland & The Stragglers | Released:2018-05-18 | honky tonkoutlaw country | ||
| #97 | ByPat Reedy & the Longtime Goners | Released:2018 | honky tonkoutlaw country | ||
| #5 | ByGeorge Strait | Released:2019-03-29 | contemporary countryhonky tonk | ||
| #28 | ByMike and the Moonpies | Released:2019-08-02 | honky tonk | ||
| #65 | ByCharley Crockett | Released:2019-09-20 | |||
| #77 | ByThe Country Side of Harmonica Sam | Released:2019-12-06 | honky tonk | ||
| #16 | ByNick Shoulders | Released:2019 | americanahonky tonk | ||
| #20 | ByEmily Nenni | Released:2020-08-22 | countryhonky tonk | ||
| #99 | ByGarrett T. Capps | Released:2021-07-30 | |||
| #93 | ByJames Lann | Released: | countryhonky tonk |