# List of Hot Country Singles number ones of 1986

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1986, 52 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. No song managed more than a single week at number one during the year.
The first number one of the year was "Have Mercy" by mother-daughter duo the Judds. In the fall, Conway Twitty achieved his 40th and final Hot Country number one with "Desperado Love", 18 years after he first topped the chart with "Next in Line". Twitty's total of 40 number ones would remain a record for the highest number of country chart-toppers by an artist until 2006, when the record was broken by George Strait. Two female acts tied for the most number ones of the year, each reaching the top spot three times: the Forester Sisters (including one in collaboration with the Bellamy Brothers) and the Judds. More than a dozen acts each achieved two number ones, including Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris, who each achieved one solo number one as well as performing together on the hit "Makin' Up for Lost Time (The Dallas Lovers' Song)". One of Juice Newton's two number ones, "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)", a duet with Eddie Rabbitt, had originally been performed by Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson on the soap opera Days of Our Lives the previous year. The song was not initially released commercially, but after Newton and Rabbitt's version became a hit, Loring and Anderson's recording was released and topped the Hot Adult Contemporary chart, meaning that versions of the same song by two different acts were number ones in their respective genres within a month of each other.
Acts to top the country chart for the first time in 1986 included Randy Travis with "On the Other Hand". Upon its initial release, the song had failed to even break into the top 40, but after Travis reached the top 10 with the song "1982", "On the Other Hand" was re-released and this time went all the way to number one, giving Travis his first chart-topper. Later in the year, T. Graham Brown achieved his first number one with "Hell and High Water", and the band Restless Heart reached the top of the chart for the first time with "That Rock Won't Roll", one of four chart-topping singles to be taken from the album Wheels. Hank Williams Jr. ended the year in the top spot with his version of "Mind Your Own Business", a song originally recorded by his father Hank Williams in 1949. The new recording featured vocal contributions from country singers Reba McEntire and Willie Nelson, rocker Tom Petty and Reverend Ike, a televangelist.

## Chart history

| Issue date | Title | Artist(s) |
| January 4 | "Have Mercy" | The Judds |
| January 11 | "Morning Desire" | Kenny Rogers |
| January 18 | "Bop" | Dan Seals |
| January 25 | "Never Be You" | Rosanne Cash |
| February 1 | "Just in Case" | The Forester Sisters |
| February 8 | "Hurt" | Juice Newton |
| February 15 | "Makin' Up for Lost Time (The Dallas Lovers' Song)" | Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris |
| February 22 | "There's No Stopping Your Heart" | Marie Osmond |
| March 1 | "You Can Dream of Me" | Steve Wariner |
| March 8 | "Think About Love" | Dolly Parton |
| March 15 | "I Could Get Used to You" | Exile |
| March 22 | "What's a Memory Like You (Doing in a Love Like This)" | John Schneider |
| March 29 | "Don't Underestimate My Love for You" | Lee Greenwood |
| April 5 | "100% Chance of Rain" | Gary Morris |
| April 12 | "She and I" | Alabama |
| April 19 | "Cajun Moon" | Ricky Skaggs |
| April 26 | "Now and Forever (You and Me)" | Anne Murray |
| May 3 | "Once in a Blue Moon" | Earl Thomas Conley |
| May 10 | "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Ol' Days)" | The Judds |
| May 17 | "Ain't Misbehavin'" | Hank Williams Jr. |
| May 24 | "Tomb of the Unknown Love" | Kenny Rogers |
| May 31 | "Whoever's in New England" | Reba McEntire |
| June 7 | "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" | Ronnie Milsap |
| June 14 | "Life's Highway" | Steve Wariner |
| June 21 | "Mama's Never Seen Those Eyes" | The Forester Sisters |
| June 28 | "Living in the Promiseland" | Willie Nelson |
| July 5 | "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)" | Dan Seals |
| July 12 | "Hearts Aren't Made to Break (They're Made to Love)" | Lee Greenwood |
| July 19 | "Until I Met You" | Judy Rodman |
| July 26 | "On the Other Hand" | Randy Travis |
| August 2 | "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her" | George Strait |
| August 9 | "Rockin' with the Rhythm of the Rain" | The Judds |
| August 16 | "You're the Last Thing I Needed Tonight" | John Schneider |
| August 23 | "Strong Heart" | T. G. Sheppard |
| August 30 | "Heartbeat in the Darkness" | Don Williams |
| September 6 | "Desperado Love" | Conway Twitty |
| September 13 | "Little Rock" | Reba McEntire |
| September 20 | "Got My Heart Set on You" | John Conlee |
| September 27 | "In Love" | Ronnie Milsap |
| October 4 | "Always Have, Always Will" | Janie Fricke |
| October 11 | "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" | Eddie Rabbitt & Juice Newton |
| October 18 | "Just Another Love" | Tanya Tucker |
| October 25 | "Cry" | Crystal Gayle |
| November 1 | "It'll Be Me" | Exile |
| November 8 | "Diggin' Up Bones" | Randy Travis |
| November 15 | "That Rock Won't Roll" | Restless Heart |
| November 22 | "You're Still New to Me" | Marie Osmond with Paul Davis |
| November 29 | "Touch Me When We're Dancing" | Alabama |
| December 6 | "It Ain't Cool to Be Crazy About You" | George Strait |
| December 13 | "Hell and High Water" | T. Graham Brown |
| December 20 | "Too Much Is Not Enough" | The Bellamy Brothers with The Forester Sisters |
| December 27 | "Mind Your Own Business" | Hank Williams Jr. |