7 Country Stars Who Left Nashville and Still Succeeded

It's no secret that Nashville is the home of country music, and the vast majority of country stars choose to live in Music City so they can be right in the middle of the action when it comes to the country music industry.

However, a few country stars have left Nashville over the years and continued to succeed at just as high a level — but they're the exception.

Which Country Artists Don't Live in Nashville?

The most obvious example of a country star who doesn't live in Nashville is George Strait.

In fact, as far as we can tell, the artist known as the King of Country actually never lived in Nashville full time, not even in the early days of establishing his career.

Do Country Artists Need to Live in Nashville to Succeed?

As a general rule, the answer has traditionally been yes, country artists need to live in Nashville in order to succeed in the business.

That's because Nashville's music industry is primarily a handshake work environment in which most business gets settled during informal things such as lunch or dinner. Artists need to be in town to be in the mix to get the latest song demo pitches, fill in on live songwriter nights at the last minute, get photographed at various events and fundraisers in town and much more.

In 2025, Justin Moore admitted that his choice to move his family back to his native Arkansas had cost him in business, though he still has a very successful career at radio.

"It's cost me things in my career. Awards, probably tours. But I don't give a sh-t to be honest with you," Moore told the God's Country Podcast (quote via Wide Open Country).

"I want my kids, 20 years from now, to go, 'Dad was here. He was here and he made us the priority.'"

Scotty McCreery also lives with his family in his home state of North Carolina, and he says the internet and social media has changed the game, making it possible for him to succeed in country music without living in Nashville.

"Maybe now more than ever," he told Evan Paul on Taste of Country Nights. "As far as social media and getting your name out there, the gates are kind of wide open now to get your music out there. There's no lock and key on it."

Still, he recognizes the value of Nashville as a hub for the industry.

"The relationships in Nashville are still very, very important," McCreery says. "It's still the heartbeat of country music, is right there in Nashville. There might be some what ifs in my head about, if I had moved to Nashville, would this have changed, would that have changed? Would I have a better relationship with some of the community there? I definitely think there's some of that."

Scroll through the pictures below to see which country stars left Nashville, or never even lived there at all:

7 Country Stars Who Left Nashville and Still Succeeded

However, there have been a few country stars who left Nashville over the years and still continued to succeed at just as high a level — but only a handful.

Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker

See the Most Played Country Song from the Year You Were Born

Who had the most played country song during the year you were born? This list is a fascinating time capsule of prevalent trends from every decade in American history. Scroll through to find your birth year and then click to listen. Some of these songs have been lost through the years, many of them for good reason!

Men named Hank dominated early before stars like Freddie Hart, Ronnie Milsap, Willie Nelson Clint Black took over to close the 1980s. More recently it's been Tim Mcgraw, Rodney Atkins, Kane Brown and Morgan Wallen. Did the most-played country song from the year you were born become a favorite of yours later? All info comes from Billboard's country airplay charts.

Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes