# List of Top Country Albums number ones of 1985

Top Country Albums is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music albums in the United States, published by Billboard. In 1985, 14 different albums topped the chart, based on sales reports submitted by a representative sample of stores nationwide.
In the issue of Billboard dated January 5, the band Exile was at number one with the album Kentucky Hearts, its third week in the top spot. Two weeks later it was replaced by Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind by George Strait, who was the only act with more than one number one during the year; he returned to the peak position in December with Something Special. The band Alabama's album 40-Hour Week had both the longest unbroken run at number one and the highest total number of weeks in the top spot; it spent 12 consecutive weeks atop the chart from March to June and then returned to the top spot for two further weeks in August. In March Ray Charles achieved his first number-one country album with Friendship. Although he was far more associated with the soul and rhythm and blues genres during his lengthy career, Charles had several entries on the country albums chart in the mid-1980s, including Friendship, on which he duetted with a range of contemporary country singers.
Several other acts reached number one for the first time in 1985, beginning with the Judds, who topped the chart in February with their second chart entry, Why Not Me. The pair would go on to be one of the most successful country acts of the 1980s before Naomi Judd, the elder member of the mother-daughter duo, was forced to retire due to a serious illness. The Judds were among a number of 1985's chart-topping acts, along with George Strait and Ricky Skaggs, to be identified with the neotraditional country trend, which moved away from the pop music-influenced style which had dominated the country charts in the earlier part of the decade in favour of a sound closer to the genre's roots. In October the Statler Brothers, who had first entered the chart in 1966, spent the only week of their career at number one when the album Pardners in Rhyme reached the top spot for a single week. In December, Gary Morris likewise spent his only week atop the chart with Anything Goes. It was displaced by the year's final number one, The Heart of the Matter by Kenny Rogers, in the issue of Billboard dated December 28. Rogers' album would go on to spend a total of six weeks at number one but would prove to be the last of the 11 chart-toppers which the singer achieved in his lifetime; he would top the chart again in 2020 shortly after his death.

## Chart history

| Issue date | Title | Artist(s) |
| January 5 | Kentucky Hearts | Exile |
| January 12 | Kentucky Hearts | Exile |
| January 19 | Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind | George Strait |
| January 26 | Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind | George Strait |
| February 2 | Why Not Me | The Judds |
| February 9 | Why Not Me | The Judds |
| February 16 | Why Not Me | The Judds |
| February 23 | Country Boy | Ricky Skaggs |
| March 2 | Country Boy | Ricky Skaggs |
| March 9 | Country Boy | Ricky Skaggs |
| March 16 | Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind | George Strait |
| March 23 | Friendship | Ray Charles |
| March 30 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| April 6 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| April 13 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| April 20 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| April 27 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| May 4 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| May 11 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| May 18 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| May 25 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| June 1 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| June 8 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| June 15 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| June 22 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| June 29 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| July 6 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| July 13 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| July 20 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| July 27 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| August 3 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| August 10 | 40-Hour Week | Alabama |
| August 17 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| August 24 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| August 31 | Five-O | Hank Williams Jr. |
| September 7 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| September 14 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| September 21 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| September 28 | Highwayman | The Highwaymen |
| October 5 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| October 12 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| October 19 | Pardners in Rhyme | The Statler Brothers |
| October 26 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| November 2 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| November 9 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| November 16 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| November 23 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| November 30 | Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 | Ronnie Milsap |
| December 7 | Rhythm & Romance | Rosanne Cash |
| December 14 | Something Special | George Strait |
| December 21 | Anything Goes | Gary Morris |
| December 28 | The Heart of the Matter | Kenny Rogers |