Looking into a New Years country crystal ball at 2025

After sleeping in on New Year's Eve, I did my daily scan of overnight social media, texts, and emails. The email that really caught my attention was one containing a brand Morgan Wallen new song entitled “Smile.” It’s a song that Wallen had been teasing for a few weeks.

The song, and Wallen in general, got me thinking about the old saying - the more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s a real thing. With that in mind, I’m left wondering what we can expect in country music as we head into 2025.

I feel a lot of what we saw in 2024 will continue into 2025. Morgan Wallen will just get bigger. Jelly Roll will continue to climb to country superstar status. Lainey Wilson will continue to shine as country music’s hottest female singer, continuing to eclipse former champ Carrie Underwood.

But who will be the names that take the next step? Who is the next generation of country music’s rising stars? Here are a few of my picks.

Zach Top

While 2024 was a great start for Top, we are going to see the Washington state native continue to climb the charts with more songs from his current release “Cold Beer & Country Music.” We are going to see a demand for new music from Zach and we’ll get it. Zach is going to continue to sell out small arenas for the first part of the year and will be headlining bigger shed venues before the year is over.

Tucker Wetmore

Wetmore made his country music debut in late 2024 with the release of “Wind Up Missing You,” and it was the final number one song of the year. Wetmore released his independent project in 2024. That caught the attention of the Universal Music Group in Nashville, which led to his signing and the release of “Missing You.” Tucker is being compared vocally to Morgan Wallen and puts on a show similar to Luke Bryan - full of energy and dancing.

Koe Wetzel

Prior to the release of this year’s “High Road,” Wetzel spent years on the road building a fanbase. It has worked out well for him, culminating in “High Road” radio attention and putting his music in front of a mainstream audience. Over the years, Wetzel has been the rowdy outlaw type, seemingly unconcerned with being part of the mainstream. But “High Road” hit Number One in 2024, and with that success, he is on the path to becoming part of the next generation of country music in 2025.

Ella Langley

As we went into 2024, Ella Langley was a name few outside her home state of Alabama knew. Then, she put out a song on TikTok called “You Look Like You Love Me” with Riley Green. Little did she, or anyone else, know that she would be a household name by the end of the year with her TikTok song going to Number One. In 2025 she is going out on the road with Green and is another artist looking to headline her own dates before the year closes. She also just signed a record deal with Triple Tigers, home to Scotty McCreery and Russell Dickerson. Lainey Wilson could get some competition from Langley in 2025.

Ty Myers

Ty Myers may not be a name you know now, but just as Ella Langley started 2024, Myers is headed into 2025. He has a deal with RECORDS Nashville/Columbia and will be releasing his debut album on January 24^th. This 17-year-old from Dripping Springs, Texas still works on his family ranch full time while making music but has already generated millions of streams just playing the Texas bar scene and releasing a few independent singles. He’s well on his way. His country radio debut will be “Ends of The Earth.” Look out for Ty Myers.

So, we head into 2025 with some of the same being the same, but also some new names popping up. I think we will also see people such as Riley Green, Parker McCollum, Jordan Davis, and Ernest gaining popularity as well.

It feels like 2025 is going to be a great year for country music.