Country Stars Cash in on Superstar's Names

Country music has long been founded on certain themes. While some people believe that songs about love, drinking and work are played out, it's a long standing tradition that's not going to change any time soon. Even though that tradition remains strong, there seems to be a new trend taking over today's country music scene. Many artists have been cashing in on the names of some big stars to turn out hit songs.

Tim McGraw started doing this years ago when he not only used George Strait's name, but the names of many of his songs. "Give It To Me Strait" references numerous songs while hitting upon a man's broken heart. Apparently McGraw thought this was a great way to produce a hit because he's at it again with "Kristofferson."

Kris Kristofferson is an accomplished songwriter whose storytelling instincts have made him one of the greats. McGraw is well aware of this fact and based the chorus of his song around writing a song like Kristofferson.

Jason Aldean is another popular star who decided to reference the greats on his second album. While Aldean has had many hits, he is most known for "Johnny Cash." He only has to mention Johnny's songs in his chorus to gain approval from the masses.

While Aldean and McGraw both waited until their second albums to use these songs, some newcomers have paid homage to the stars while launching their careers. Although Taylor Swift now has several hits off of her debut album, her first single was "Tim McGraw."

Swift was able to take a staple of country music--a theme about love--and add a few simple chords, some catchy lyrics including a reference to one of her idols, and she created one of the hottest songs played on country stations today.

Heidi Newfield followed in the footsteps of those who came before her. "Johnny & June" wishes for that classic type of love that Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash had for each other. Newfield mentions some of Cash's love songs and in doing so created another hit for herself. Actually, this is the first hit for her solo career as she just released her album. Before that, she had recorded numerous hits with the group, Trick Pony.

These artists certainly aren't the first or the last to use another artist's name in a song. With the success of these songs, other artists would be smart to follow this trend and get a hit.