# List of Hot Country Singles number ones of 1983

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1983, 50 different releases topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.
One of only two singles to spend more than one week at number one in 1983 was "Islands in the Stream", a collaboration between two of country's leading solo singers, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. The song was a considerable crossover success, also topping the Adult Contemporary chart and reaching number one on the all-genres Billboard Hot 100. In 2005 the song topped a poll run by country music television channel CMT of the best country duets of all time. The only other multi-week number one was "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)" by Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, which ended the year in the top spot. Five acts tied for the most number ones of the year, with three each, including Alabama, Crystal Gayle and John Anderson. Mickey Gilley achieved two solo number ones and also teamed with Charly McClain on the chart-topping duet "Paradise Tonight" and Merle Haggard similarly gained two solo number ones and spent a week at the top with "Pancho and Lefty", a collaboration with Willie Nelson.
In addition to the artists who achieved three number ones, Kenny Rogers also spent three weeks at the top, as his two weeks in collaboration with Dolly Parton followed a week spent at number one with "We've Got Tonight", a duet with Sheena Easton. Male-female duets had long been a staple of country music, and a fourth such song to top the Hot Country chart in 1983 was "Faking Love" by T. G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks. In January Reba McEntire topped the chart for the first time with "Can't Even Get the Blues". McEntire would go on to become one of the most successful female singers in country music history, topping the chart regularly for nearly three decades; in 2011 she achieved her 25th number one song, tying with Dolly Parton for the most chart-topping songs by a female artist. While McEntire began a decades-long run of number ones in 1983, several veteran singers added to their extensive tallies of chart-toppers during the year; Merle Haggard's three number ones took his career total to 32 spanning 17 years, and Ronnie Milsap continued a run of number ones which had begun in 1974 and included 13 appearances in the top spot between 1980 and 1984.

## Chart history

| Issue date | Title | Artist(s) |
| January 1 | "Wild and Blue" | John Anderson |
| January 8 | "Can't Even Get the Blues" | Reba McEntire |
| January 15 | "Going Where the Lonely Go" | Merle Haggard |
| January 22 | "(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date" | Emmylou Harris |
| January 29 | "Talk to Me" | Mickey Gilley |
| February 5 | "Inside" / "Carolina Dreams" | Ronnie Milsap |
| February 12 | "'Til I Gain Control Again" | Crystal Gayle |
| February 19 | "Faking Love" | T. G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks |
| February 26 | "Why Baby Why" | Charley Pride |
| March 5 | "If Hollywood Don't Need You (Honey I Still Do)" | Don Williams |
| March 12 | "The Rose" | Conway Twitty |
| March 19 | "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could" | Ricky Skaggs |
| March 26 | "Swingin'" | John Anderson |
| April 2 | "When I'm Away from You" | The Bellamy Brothers |
| April 9 | "We've Got Tonight" | Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton |
| April 16 | "Dixieland Delight" | Alabama |
| April 23 | "American Made" | The Oak Ridge Boys |
| April 30 | "You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving" | Reba McEntire |
| May 7 | "José Cuervo" | Shelly West |
| May 14 | "Whatever Happened to Old-Fashioned Love" | B. J. Thomas |
| May 21 | "Common Man" | John Conlee |
| May 28 | "You Take Me for Granted" | Merle Haggard |
| June 4 | "Lucille (You Won't Do Your Daddy's Will)" | Waylon Jennings |
| June 11 | "Our Love Is on the Faultline" | Crystal Gayle |
| June 18 | "You Can't Run from Love" | Eddie Rabbitt |
| June 25 | "Fool for Your Love" | Mickey Gilley |
| July 2 | "Love Is on a Roll" | Don Williams |
| July 9 | "Highway 40 Blues" | Ricky Skaggs |
| July 16 | "The Closer You Get" | Alabama |
| July 23 | "Pancho and Lefty" | Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard |
| July 30 | "I Always Get Lucky with You" | George Jones |
| August 6 | "Your Love's on the Line" | Earl Thomas Conley |
| August 13 | "He's a Heartache (Looking for a Place to Happen)" | Janie Fricke |
| August 20 | "Love Song" | The Oak Ridge Boys |
| August 27 | "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation" | Ronnie McDowell |
| September 3 | "A Fire I Can't Put Out" | George Strait |
| September 10 | "I'm Only in It for the Love" | John Conlee |
| September 17 | "Night Games" | Charley Pride |
| September 24 | "Baby, What About You" | Crystal Gayle |
| October 1 | "New Looks from an Old Lover" | B. J. Thomas |
| October 8 | "Don't You Know How Much I Love You" | Ronnie Milsap |
| October 15 | "Paradise Tonight" | Charly McClain and Mickey Gilley |
| October 22 | "Lady Down on Love" | Alabama |
| October 29 | "Islands in the Stream" | Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton |
| November 5 | "Islands in the Stream" | Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton |
| November 12 | "Somebody's Gonna Love You" | Lee Greenwood |
| November 19 | "One of a Kind Pair of Fools" | Barbara Mandrell |
| November 26 | "Holding Her and Loving You" | Earl Thomas Conley |
| December 3 | "A Little Good News" | Anne Murray |
| December 10 | "Tell Me a Lie" | Janie Fricke |
| December 17 | "Black Sheep" | John Anderson |
| December 24 | "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)" | Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers |
| December 31 | "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)" | Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers |
a. ^ Double A-sided single