A New Generation.

As country music moved closer to mainstream popular music in the 1990s new female vocalists such as Shania Twain, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, and the Dixie Chicks came to the fore. Male country artists such as Garth Brooks, Steve Earle, Alan Jackson, Marty Stuart, and Tim McGraw were also popular, but many of the top country stars of the 1970s and 1980s disappeared from the charts. Many traditionalists charged that country music was losing its sense of history, but "New Country" star Alison Krauss and mainstream country artist Alan Jackson, among others, continued to highlight their links to classic country.

New Country Women.

The big news in country music during the 1990s was the emergence of new female stars. With her supermodel looks and a sultry, beguiling voice, Canadian Shania Twain would have been called a pop-country crossover singer in...