Country music often shines best when artists combine their talents together. The genre is rich in history of country duets, whether the songs be happy, sad, joyful or tragic.
Videos by Wide Open Country
We picked four country duets that were pure magic, and still are today.
1. Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, "You Can't Make Old Friends"
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton released numerous duets together, including "Islands in the Stream," "Real Love" and more. But it's their last duet that feels the most significant, since it encapsulates their decades-long friendship.
"You Can't Make Old Friends," out in 2013, is the title track of Rogers' album, released the same year. Written by Ryan Hanna King, Don Schlitz, and Caitlyn Smith, "You Can't Make Old Friends" embodies the close relationship the two shared, until Rogers passed away in 2020.
"How will I sing when you are gone?" the song says in part. "'Cause it won't sound the same / Who will join in on those harmony parts / When I call your name?"
"That song was very emotional because of our relationship and the fact that we're both older," Parton tells Pop Matters. "And when we were talking about when St. Peter knocks on the door and you come walking in, it makes you think. But the fact that we got to be together all this time, to have great hits like 'Islands in the Stream' ... ['Old Friends'] was a different kind of energy, but it had more meaning."
2. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, "Remind Me"
Like Rogers and Parton, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are also good friends. The two released "Remind Me" in 2011, from Paisley's This Is Country Music record.
Paisley penned the song with Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace. The song says in part, "Been so long, bet you forget / The way I used to kiss your neck / Remind me, remind me." The song is an overtly romantic song, which made them filming the video challenging, since they are close friends, and both happily married to other people.
"We had to go very delicate in how we did it," Underwood says (via The Boot). "Because obviously we're both separately married to other people, and it would be weird with our friendship, being in this lovey-mushy-gushy story. We had to do it from an art perspective."
3. "It's Your Love " by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have released numerous duets, but none quite compare to their first one. McGraw and Hill released "It's Your Love" in 1997, less than a year after they were married. The song is on McGraw's Everywhere record.
Hill is noticeably pregnant in the video, which only adds to the beauty of the song.
Stephony Smith wrote the romantic tune, which says, "It's your love / It just does something to me /
It sends a shock right through me / I can't get enough / And if you wonder / About the spell I'm under / Oh, It's your love."
It was Missy Gallimore, the wife of his producer, Byron Gallimore, who found the song.
"We were dating at the time, and we were in the middle of a tour together," McGraw tells American Songwriter. "I remember I had a place out in Leiper's Fork, and the bus was sitting there. Missy showed up with that song, and we went to the back of the bus to listen. I instantly knew I was going to cut it. I played it for Faith and told her I wanted her to sing on it. We both really felt like we had something."
4. "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty built a successful career together, by releasing songs as a duo. The two have numerous hit songs, including "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man." The song, written by Becki Bluefield and Tim Owen, was released in 1973, the title track of their third album the two released together.
"Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" says, "Louisiana woman (Mississippi man) / We get together every time we can / The Mississippi River can't keep us apart / There's too much love in this Mississippi heart / Too much love in this Louisiana heart," a perfect song for the two to sing together.
Perhaps surprisingly, it was Lynn's husband Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn, who found the song and suggested they record it together.
"Doo loved Conway," Lynn says (via Songfacts). "We'd been out on tour a couple weeks, and we'd come home. We walked in, and my husband was sitting at the desk. He didn't usually come into the office. He says, 'I've got a hit for you.' And Conway says, 'Oh, my god, he's got a song for us?!' It was called 'Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man' and it was a No. 1 hit. We kind of listened to Doo from then on."
