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Darius Rucker
What's a frat friendly adult alternative rocker to do when success dries up? If you're Darius Rucker, you reinvent yourself as a country star. Rucker's old band Hootie & the Blowfish may be relegated to the 90s nostalgia bin alongside Tamagotchis, pogs and the Arch Deluxe, but solo Rucker has transitioned swimmingly into his new place in the world. On the revamped resumé: three #1 albums, a handful of hits and a CMA award for Best New Artist. Rucker's switch to country was preceded by an attempt at R&B stardom (see: 2002's Back to Then) that absolutely tanked and was never acknowledged ever again.
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Bon Jovi
An organic artistic shift or a crassly transparent attempt at pandering to a new fanbase? Bon Jovi's mid aughts shift to a country sound was met with a healthy dash of cynicism, but the move paid off on the charts. 2007's country-tinged Lost Highway (featuring guest appearances from LeAnn Rimes and Big & Rich) gave the Garden State rockers their first #1 album on the Billboard 200 since Reagan was in the White House. It was only a brief detour into countryesque sounds, though. Bon Jovi returned to a more pop-rocky sound for their follow-up album The Circle.
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Jessica Simpson
And why wouldn't a one-time Daisy Duke try her hand at country? After 2006's A Public Affair stiffed on the charts, Jessica Simpson applied for refugee status in the world of country music. In 2008, Jessica offered up Do You Know to the world, to which the world responded: "yeah, we're not feeling this." Critics found the album underwhelming at best and record sales were lower than any of Jessica's previous efforts. At least she has that acting career to fall back on.
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Jewel
Considering that Jewel has a rodeo star hubby and a hosting stint on Nashville Star on her country credibility CV, the Alaskan's shift to country music doesn't seem like that much of a curve ball. (Even if yodelling hasn't been in vogue in country in a long long time.) In 2008, Jewel put out the John Rich produced country effort Perfectly Clear, following that up two years later with the album Sweet and Wild. This year, Jewel went country in a different way. She played June Carter Cash in a Lifetime biopic.
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Ween
Genre-hopping surrealist duo Ween knocked out a country album in 1996. 12 Golden Country Greats features the pair employing a dozen legendary country musicians (including The Jordanaires, Charlie McCoy and Hargus "Pig" Robbins) to craft an album that includes such songs as "P*** Up a Rope" and "Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain."
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Michelle Branch
In 2004, Michelle Branch took a break from lite FM medium rotation stardom to team with Jessica Harp to form the country music duo The Wreckers. The pair notched a gold record (2006's Stand Still, Look Pretty) before calling it a day in 2007.
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Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello fans picking up a copy of 1981's Almost Blue were greeted with a rather unique sticker: "WARNING: This album contains country & western music and may cause offence to narrow minded listeners." The album featured Costello performing nothing but covers of country music songs, including renditions of tunes made famous by Hank Williams, George Jones and Charlie Rich.
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Aaron Lewis
Staind frontman Aaron Lewis abandoned post grunge for country in the 2010s. Lewis offered up a solo album (2012's The Road), as well as some public disdain for Carrie Underwood. Lewis (read: the f***ing guy from Staind) slagged off Underwood during a bit of concert banter for picking a song that "that depicted herself as a complete whore." In turn, we're slagging off Lewis for saying a series of words that depicted himself as a complete horse's ass.
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Kid Rock
"Cowboy" should've tipped us off, eh? Kid Rock has shifted from being the poster child for unapologetically white trash rap-rock to being...well still that guy but with the ability to knock out some country radio friendly hits too. "Picture" and "All Summer Long" crossed over onto the country charts, making Kid Rock something that gets blasted out of busted down vans at festival campsites where cowboy hats and Kenny Chesney t-shirts are the norm.
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Kelly Clarkson
Some pop stars dabbling in country music come across like tourists. Kelly Clarkson seems right at home in the genre. Thanks to her duet with Jason Aldean ("Don't You Wanna Stay"), Clarkson has an Academy of Country Music Award and a Country Music Association award in her trophy case. Current single "Tie It Up" sounds a country take on Roxette, suggesting that the new album might plunge further into the genre.
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Ray Charles
Ray Charles had no problem with doing his own thing and in 1962 the "What'd I Say" singer elected to go full country and release Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The album proved to be a hit with record buyers and it's lauded to this day as an absolute classic.
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Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber won a CMT Music Award? You better believe it. The Biebs teamed with Rascal Flatts for a remix of "That Should Be Me" and the resulting music video earned the unlikely team a CMT Music Award for Collaborative Video of the Year. We can't help but imagine what Charlie Rich would have thought of Justin winning.
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Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie took a bit longer in life to embrace his country side, but the results were very impressive. The R&B legends 2012 album Tuskagee was a re-imagining of some of his signature songs with the help of the biggest names in country music including Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain and many others. The album went platinum within 6 weeks of its release, becoming one of Lionel's most successful records in years.
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Nelly
Hip hop star Nelly's breakthrough album was titled 'Country Grammar', but it wasn't until several years later that he actually broke into the genre as a guest on the singed 'Over and Over' with Tim McGraw. Most recently, Nelly collaborated with Florida Georgia Line (pictured) for their single 'Cruise'.
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C) at the Wonderwall portrait studio during the 2013 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena on June 5, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Wonderwall
