From seasoned legends to tween newcomers, the country music pool diversified hugely in the first decade of the 2000s -- not only in demographics but also in sound.
The '80s were a transitional decade for country music: a time when artists could try out different styles and approaches -- and, by extension, adopt new traditions that would come to reverberate in the '90s and beyond.
Many of our favorite country stars have been in the public eye for multiple decades, which means that some of them have changed a lot since when they first hit the stage.