The world deserves these collabs. Throughout its history, country music has been home to some of the most iconic collaborations in music. From Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton scoring a genre-defining hit with “Islands in the Stream” and Johnny Cash and June Carter teaming up for “Jackson” to Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss delivering one of the most haunting songs in history with “Whiskey Lullaby” and George Strait and Alan Jackson sticking in to the Nashville machine on “Murder on Music Row,” you don’t have to look far to find show-stopping collaborations from decade-to-decade. Recently, it seems as if star-studded collaborations have simply become the norm over the past decade. Of course, you have your all-genre #1s from the likes of Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves on “I Remember Everything” and Post Malone making his grand country debut with Morgan Wallen on “I Had Some Help.” With that being said, however, we’ve also seen some other massive collabs from the likes of Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood, Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and George Strait, Zach Bryan and a plethora of artists such as Noah Kahan, Sierra Ferrell, Bruce Springsteen, The Lumineers and many more. Despite there being so many collaborations lately, there are still some major artists that fans (myself included) have been begging for a team-up from for what feels like years at this point. Without further ado, here are five country collaborations that would break the internet. 1. Morgan Wallen & Luke Combs With Combs and Wallen in particular, it’s hard to truly separate the two. Despite having radically different music styles, with Combs harkening back to the turn of the century offerings of the late 1990s and early 2000s and Wallen spearheading the push of pop/trap elements through the use of his highly criticized 808 beats and hip-hop-inspired production, the two are nearly inseparable when it comes to discussing country music today. Of course, this is also due to the fact that they not only debuted within one year of each other but also due to the fact that they’re two of the most successful country artists in the history of the genre. All this is to say, a collaboration between these two juggernauts has been something many fans have dreamed of over the past five or so years as the pair continue to smash record after record of their own. And while it may not be on the way yet, Combs has yet to rule it out. The “Beautiful Crazy” singer would admit recently that they’ve continued talking about it over the years but simply haven’t found the right song. Additionally, he’d add that there’s (rightfully) a lot of pressure involved in a collaboration as long-awaited as one with Wallen. “We talked about it a couple of years ago, and we just haven’t found the song. I feel like there would be a lot of pressure on the song to be like perfect. And if it wasn’t right, it could just go terribly. People will be like, ‘We waited all this time, and it’s such a let down.” As two of the biggest stars in the genre’s history, it’s pretty safe to say that whenever they get around to releasing a song together, it’s bound to break records. The only question that remains, at this point, is when it will happen. 2. Chris Stapleton & Sturgill Simpson Two of Kentucky’s finest and two saviors of country music, it’s hard to really understate the importance of both Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson. For Stapleton, his rise in popularity after his iconic 2015 CMA performance of “Tennessee Whiskey” all but saved the genre and signaled the death of bro-country. For Simpson, he’s arguably the forefather of the independent/alternative country renaissance, along with the likes of Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks and more, and has probably influenced your favorite artist in some capacity or another in the past decade. Given the fact that the two are Kentucky natives, have incredibly similar, genre-blending sounds and have established themselves as two living legends in the genre, the pairing of the two feels like a no-brainer that would undoubtedly send every alternative country fan into a frenzy. The closest we’ve come to an official collaboration between the two so far came back in 2017 when Sturgill made a surprise appearance and absolutely shredded during a performance of “Midnight Train to Memphis” on Saturday Night Live. 3. Zach Top & The Red Clay Strays In many ways, The Red Clay Strays and Zach Top have shared a similar trajectory over the past few years. Though the two sit on opposite sides of the genre, with the Strays bringing a wholly unique blend of country, southern rock and gospel elements from album to album and Top spearheading the rise of traditional country back to the mainstream, it hasn’t stopped the pair from garnering a lot of crossover fans and, more importantly, a whole lot of success both commercially and critically. What makes the two so special, outside of the incredible work in the studio, is the number of times they’ve collaborated in the past year. Last April at Georgia Rodeo, the pair would surprise the crowd with a performance of Waylon Jennings’ 1990 single, “Where The Corn Don’t Grow,” which was later covered and popularized by Travis Tritt in 1996. Just two weeks ago, at Red Clay’s album release party for Grateful at the Pinnacle in Nashville, Top would make a surprise appearance and they’d play the track once again. In case you were getting tired of the two powerhouses performing “Where the Corn Don’t Grow” recently (though I’m not sure why you would), the pair reunited yet again over the weekend with a brand new cover, this time at Top’s headlining show at the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama. With multiple collaborations over the past year and obviously great rapport between the two, it feels like it would be a disservice to not hear a cover or original from the pair receive studio treatment some time soon. 4. Eric Church & Miranda Lambert Though the pair have found themselves briefly at odds in the past, mainly due to Church criticizing singing competition shows, it’s hard to ignore the similarities between Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. With both debuting just a year apart, being two of the most respected songwriters in the mainstream and having a long history of being trailblazing bad***es over the past two decades, their overall sound and style would simply be a match made in heaven. The two actually wrote Jon Pardi and Lauren Alaina’s “Don’t Blame It On Whiskey” together, along Luke Laird and Michael P. Heeney, back in 2019. With that being said, however, that’s the closest we’ve ever come to anything resembling a collaboration between the two. 5. Tyler Childers & Sierra Ferrell Even disregarding the long-standing rumor that Childers’ “Charleston Girl” was written about Ferrell, it’s pretty hard to ignore the similarities between the two musically. Between both powerhouses being firmly planted in the roots of Appalachia, with Childers being from Kentucky and Ferrell being from West Virginia, and the pair cementing themselves as two staples of the current roots movement in the genre, it’s hard to even imagine the magic they could come up with in the studio. Considering how far they’ve stretched themselves creatively as of late, a potential collaboration between Childers and Ferrell could wind up being one of the most magical, weird and simultaneously beautiful team-ups in country music history.The post 5 Country Collaborations That Would Break The Internet first appeared on Whiskey Riff.