# 1962 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1962.

## Events

* September 25 – Loretta Lynn is inducted into the Grand Ole Opry at 30 years of age.
* November 3 — Billboard renames its Hot C&W Sides chart "Hot Country Singles," a name it will keep for the next 27 years. The chart length remains 30 positions.

### No dates

* Rhythm and blues singer Ray Charles releases his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The album of pop-styled covers of country standards is vastly influential in the genre.

## Top hits of the year
### Number one hits
#### United States

(as certified by Billboard)
| Date | Single Name | Artist | Wks. No.1 | Spec. Note |
| March 10 | Misery Loves Company | Porter Wagoner | 2 | Returns to Number One March 24. Wagoner's first Billboard Number One since "A Satisfied Mind" in 1955. |
| March 17 | That's My Pa | Sheb Wooley | 1 | |
| March 31 | She's Got You | Patsy Cline | 5 | Returns to Number One May 5. |
| April 28 | Charlie's Shoes | Billy Walker | 2 | Returns to Number One May 12. |
| May 19 | She Thinks I Still Care | George Jones | 6 | |
| June 30 | Wolverton Mountain | Claude King | 9 | |
| September 1 | Devil Woman | Marty Robbins | 8 | |
| October 27 | Mama Sang a Song | Bill Anderson | 7 | Returns to Number One on November 17, and then on December 22. |
| November 10 | I've Been Everywhere | Hank Snow | 2 | Returns to Number One December 15. Snow's first Billboard Number One since "Let Me Go, Lover!" in 1954. |
| December 29 | Don't Let Me Cross Over | Carl Butler and Pearl | 11 | Returns to Number One on January 12, January 26, and then on February 16. |

##### Notes

* 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
* 2^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
* A^ First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
* B^ Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
* C^ Only Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

### Other major hits

| US | Single | Artist |
| 5 | Aching, Breaking Heart | George Jones |
| 2 | Adios Amigo | Jim Reeves |
| 7 | After Loving You | Eddy Arnold |
| 11 | Air Mail to Heaven | Carl Smith |
| 5 | Alla My Love | Webb Pierce |
| 13 | Anywhere There's People | Lawton Williams |
| 16 | The Best Dressed Beggar (In Town) | Carl Smith |
| 12 | Big Fool of the Year | George Jones |
| 22 | Big Shoes | Ray Price |
| 16 | Black Cloud | Leroy Van Dyke |
| 10 | The Burning of Atlanta | Claude King |
| 16 | The Cajun Queen | Jimmy Dean |
| 3 | Call Me Mr. In-Between | Burl Ives |
| 22 | China Doll | George Hamilton IV |
| 10 | Cold Dark Waters | Porter Wagoner |
| 7 | The Comancheros | Claude King |
| 4 | The Comeback | Faron Young |
| 5 | Cow Town | Webb Pierce |
| 2 | Crazy | Patsy Cline |
| 8 | Crazy Wild Desire | Webb Pierce |
| 20 | Daddy Stopped In | Claude Gray |
| 10 | Day Into Night | Kitty Wells |
| 9 | Dear Ivan | Jimmy Dean |
| 18 | Don't Go Near the Eskimos | Ben Colder |
| 4 | Don't Go Near the Indians | Rex Allen |
| 3 | Everybody but Me | Ernest Ashworth |
| 7 | Footsteps of a Fool | Judy Lynn |
| 9 | Funny Way of Laughin' | Burl Ives |
| 14 | Get a Little Dirt on Your Hands | Bill Anderson |
| 3 | A Girl I Used to Know | George Jones |
| 13 | Go On Home | Patti Page |
| 10 | Happy Journey | Hank Locklin |
| 11 | He Stands Real Tall | Del Reeves |
| 8 | Hello Out There | Carl Belew |
| 11 | Honky Tonk Man | Johnny Horton |
| 7 | (How Can I Write On Paper) What I Feel in My Heart | Jim Reeves |
| 5 | I Can Mend Your Broken Heart | Don Gibson |
| 17 | I Can't Stop (My Lovin' You) | Buck Owens |
| 9 | I Guess I'll Never Learn | Charlie Phillips |
| 2 | I'm Gonna Change Everything | Jim Reeves |
| 16 | I'm Looking High and Low for My Baby | Ernest Tubb |
| 12 | I've Just Destroyed the World (I'm Loving In) | Ray Price |
| 3 | If a Woman Answers (Hang Up the Phone) | Leroy Van Dyke |
| 6 | If You Don't Know I Ain't Gonna Tell You | George Hamilton IV |
| 8 | In the Jailhouse Now | Johnny Cash |
| 6 | In the Middle of a Heartache | Wanda Jackson |
| 4 | It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' | Johnny Tillotson |
| 21 | It Was You | Ferlin Husky |
| 16 | Just Ain't | Flatt & Scruggs |
| 20 | Kentucky Means Paradise | Glen Campbell |
| 8 | Kickin' Our Hearts Around | Buck Owens |
| 9 | Leona | Stonewall Jackson |
| 20 | A Letter to My Heart | Jim Reeves |
| 2 | A Little Bitty Tear | Burl Ives |
| 10 | Little Black Book | Jimmy Dean |
| 3 | A Little Heartache | Eddy Arnold |
| 2 | Lonesome Number One | Don Gibson |
| 2 | Losing Your Love | Jim Reeves |
| 12 | Love Can't Wait | Marty Robbins |
| 7 | My Name Is Mud | James O'Gwynn |
| 11 | Nobody's Fool but Yours | Buck Owens |
| 3 | Old Rivers | Walter Brennan |
| 11 | One Look at Heaven | Stonewall Jackson |
| 13 | Open Pit Mine | George Jones |
| 3 | PT-109 | Jimmy Dean |
| 5 | Pride | Ray Price |
| 18 | Pride Goes Before a Fall | Jim Reeves |
| 20 | Sally Was a Good Old Girl | Hank Cochran |
| 11 | Save the Last Dance for Me | Buck Owens |
| 18 | Second Choice | Stonewall Jackson |
| 11 | Send Me the Pillow You Dream On | Johnny Tillotson |
| 18 | Shame on Me | Bobby Bare |
| 16 | Silver Threads and Golden Needles | The Springfields |
| 17 | Slow Poison | Johnnie & Jack |
| 14 | So Wrong | Patsy Cline |
| 16 | Somebody Save Me | Ferlin Husky |
| 12 | Sometimes I'm Tempted | Marty Robbins |
| 17 | Sometimes You Just Can't Win | George Jones |
| 19 | Sooner or Later | Webb Pierce |
| 6 | Success | Loretta Lynn |
| 7 | Take Time | Webb Pierce |
| 7 | Tears Broke Out on Me | Eddy Arnold |
| 11 | Tennessee Flat Top Box | Johnny Cash |
| 8 | Then a Tear Fell | Earl Scott |
| 17 | There's Always One (Who Loves a Lot) | Roy Drusky |
| 7 | Three Days | Faron Young |
| 15 | To a Sleeping Beauty | Jimmy Dean |
| 7 | Touch Me | Willie Nelson |
| 4 | Trouble's Back in Town | The Wilburn Brothers |
| 18 | Under the Cover of Night | Dave Dudley |
| 5 | Unloved Unwanted | Kitty Wells |
| 10 | The Violet and the Rose | Little Jimmy Dickens |
| 5 | Wall to Wall Love | Bob Gallion |
| 11 | Waltz of the Angels | George Jones and Margie Singleton |
| 13 | The Waltz You Saved for Me | Ferlin Husky |
| 7 | We Missed You | Kitty Wells |
| 14 | We're Gonna Go Fishin' | Hank Locklin |
| 10 | When I Get Through with You | Patsy Cline |
| 9 | Where I Ought to Be | Skeeter Davis |
| 15 | Where the Old Red River Flows | Jimmie Davis |
| 8 | Will Your Lawyer Talk to God | Kitty Wells |
| 5 | Willie the Weeper | Billy Walker |
| 10 | Willingly | Willie Nelson and Shirley Collie |
| 3 | A Wound Time Can't Erase | Stonewall Jackson |
| 15 | You Take the Future (And I'll Take the Past) | Hank Snow |

## Top new album releases

| Single | Artist | Record Label |
| All Aboard the Blue Train | Johnny Cash | Sun |
| George Jones Sings Bob Wills | George Jones | United Artists |
| Happy Journey | Hank Locklin | RCA |
| Homecoming in Heaven | George Jones | United Artists |
| Hymns from the Heart | Johnny Cash | Columbia |
| Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music | Ray Charles | ABC-Paramount |
| My Favorites of Hank Williams | George Jones | United Artists |
| Sentimentally Yours | Patsy Cline | Decca |
| The Sound of Johnny Cash | Johnny Cash | Columbia |
| Wonderful Wanda | Wanda Jackson | Capitol |

### Other top releases

| Single | Artist | Record Label |
| According to My Heart | Goldie Hill | Decca |
| Bashful Brother Oswald | Bashful Brother Oswald | Starday |
| Bill Anderson Sings Country Heart Songs | Bill Anderson | Decca |
| Caribbean Guitar | Chet Atkins | RCA |
| Cross Country | Webb Pierce | Decca |
| Devil Woman | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
| Down Home | Chet Atkins | RCA |
| Family Favorites | Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper with the Clinch Mountain Clan | Hickory |
| Hank Locklin | Hank Locklin | RCA |
| Homer and Jethro and the Convention | Homer and Jethro | RCA |
| Live It Up, Laugh it Up | Johnny Bond | Starday |
| The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark | Roy Clark | Capitol |
| Marty After Midnight | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
| The New Favorites of George Jones | George Jones | United Artists |
| Night Life | Ray Price | Columbia |
| Old Rivers | Walter Brennan | Liberty |
| One More Time | Eddy Arnold | RCA |
| Our Man Down South | Eddy Arnold | RCA |
| Porter Wagoner and Skeeter Davis Sing Duets | Porter Wagoner and Skeeter Davis | RCA |
| A Touch of Velvet | Jim Reeves | RCA |
| A Tribute to Roy Acuff: The King of Country Music | Hank Locklin | RCA |
| You're for Me | Buck Owens | Capitol |

## Births

* January 13 — Trace Adkins, singer-songwriter whose style meshes honky-tonk and dance-influenced rock.
* February 4 — Clint Black, first major new star of the 1990s and key player in the new traditionalist movement.
* February 6 — Richie McDonald, former lead singer of Lonestar.
* February 7 — Garth Brooks, the man who revolutionalized country music and forever changed its direction during the 1990s.
* February 11 — Sheryl Crow, pop singer who has also had substantial success as a country singer starting in the 2000s.
* April 2 — Billy Dean, contemporary-styled singer-songwriter who had the peak of his success in the 1990s.
* May 2 — Ty Herndon, contemporary-styled singer who had most of his success in the mid-to-late 1990s.
* July 13 - Victoria Shaw, singer-songwriter since the 1990s.
* August 23 — Emilio Navaira, singer-songwriter of country and Tejano music (died 2016).
* October 13 - John Wiggins, singer-songwriter since the 1990s.
* November 26 — Linda Davis, prominent backing vocalist who had a series of solo hits in the 1990s.
* December 7 - Andy Childs, singer-songwriter since the 1990s.

## Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

* Roy Acuff (1903–1992)

## Major awards
### Grammy Awards

* Best Country and Western Recording — "Funny Way of Laughin'", Burl Ives