20 Black Artists Who Shaped Country Music [Photos]

Black country artists have faced hate in the country music genre, and their stories have been suppressed. But the truth is that the country music genre as we know it today would not exist without Black artists.

That's not hyperbole.

How Did Black Artists Create Country Music?

The banjo — one of country music's staple instruments — originates from a handmade gourd instrument that enslaved Black people brought from Africa to America, and its traditional sounds grew popular in American culture due to minstrel shows and Blackface performances.

In the latter half of the 18th century, Black musicians — who had long been responsible for musical entertainment for white colonialists — started pairing the banjo with the fiddle, creating the format that would eventually be a staple for bluegrass and folk bands.

Read More: Here's Why Mickey Guyton is Country Music's Biggest, Baddest Outlaw

They also mentored some of the genre's formative white musicians: Black blues guitarist Arnold Shultz taught Bill Monroe. Lesley Riddle was a major presence behind the music of The Carter Family. And DeFord Bailey helped launch The Grand Ole Opry.

Keep reading as Taste of Country dives into a non-exhaustive list of the Black performers who built country music, and the modern performers who've continued to innovate and push barriers in the genre.