Outlaw Country
Outlaw country is a rougher, more independent style of 1970s country music, made by artists who rejected the polished sound Nashville record labels wanted.
These singers fought for the right to choose their own songs, producers and bands. The records sound stripped-back, with honky-tonk and rock influences in place of string sections and backing choirs. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings led the movement, which was tied to both Nashville and Austin, Texas. The 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws gave it a name the public knew.
Artists it is known for: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Jessi Colter.
- Family
- Country
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- Nashville and Texas, 1970s
- Also called
- outlaw movement
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 3%
About 2,800 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have outlaw country among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Outlaw Country artists
Tyler Childers
Chris Stapleton
Johnny Cash
Whiskey Myers
Hank Williams, Jr.
Colter Wall
Marty Robbins
Waylon Jennings
Turnpike Troubadours
David Allan Coe
The outlaw country artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.