BREAKING NEWS!
Record Research Returns, Launching Preorders for First Book in 2 Years:
“Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country ingles 1944-2025″
First new book under CEO Vinnie Freda will be officially released June 4th at CMA Fest in Nashville
April 9, 2026 (Menomonee Falls, WI) – Record Research Inc., the authority on music industry chart performance with 229 published reference books, today announced their 230th title, Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025. The book is available for preorder now at recordresearch.com at a discounted price of $89.95. It will be officially released on June 4, 2026 during CMA Fest in Nashville.
Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025 provides the most accurate account available of the full history of popular Country music, including an artist-by-artist listing of every song that has ever appeared on the Country singles charts, from the debut of the Most-Played Juke Box Folk Records chart in 1944 to the last Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts of 2025. The book includes a comprehensive title index, multiple song and artist rankings, and a chronological listing of every #1 Country hit.
For the first time, the book will also feature a section dedicated to songwriters, detailing the 40 all-time top Country songwriters and their Top 40 hits. This section of the book is presented in partnership with Nan Kingsley and in honor of Bob Kingsley, whose life-long dedication to spotlighting the songwriters behind the hits in his weekly countdown radio shows brought Country music’s songwriters to national prominence.
“Almost every day of the year, I rely on Joel Whitburn’s Record Research books,” said Fred Bronson, Music Historian and Journalist. “Thanks to his dozens of volumes, I have saved thousands of hours of research time. I cannot imagine a world where the Whitburn books do not exist, and I am eternally grateful for his legacy and that his fine work continues in this edition of Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025.”
Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025 will be the first book released by Record Research since the arrival of new CEO and majority owner Vinnie Freda, a longtime customer who joined the company in September 2025. Freda, who was previously Chief Data Officer at Warner Music Group, came onboard to preserve and expand upon the legacy of chart historian Joel Whitburn, who passed away in June 2022 with a 50-plus-year legacy as a leading author of reference books on the Billboard, Gavin, Cash Box, R&R, Record World, and other music charts.
After founding Record Research in 1970, Whitburn went on to release countless titles across multiple series – including Top Pop Singles, Top 40 Hits, Top Pop Albums, Top R&B Singles, and more – via an exclusive licensing agreement with Billboard to utilize their data. These books meticulously chronicled chart performance across each genre and popularized terms like “peak position,” “debut date,” and “weeks on chart” to the industry, becoming an invaluable resource, especially before chart information was widely available on the internet. Working alongside Whitburn at Record Research were his daughter, Kim Bloxdorf, as Publisher, and head researcher Paul Haney.
Following Whitburn’s passing, Bloxdorf worked to complete and release the books Whitburn had in process, including The Gavin Report 1958-2000 and Top Pop Singles 1990-2022, and in 2024 released Pop Annual 1950-2023. After meeting with Freda, a new partnership was born with Freda working closely with Bloxdorf and Haney to create the 10th edition of Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025 and move the company into the future.
“I couldn’t be more excited to kick off the next chapter of Record Research with the release of Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025,” said Bloxdorf. “We hear constantly from readers who are music industry executives, DJs, or just avid fans of the charts that our books continue to resonate and have a real impact. Vinnie’s leadership has ushered us into this new era with endless possibilities for the company, and I know that my dad would be proud.”
“As a decades-long reader and fan of Record Research, I’ve always known that these books were special,” said Freda. “Discovering Top Pop 1955-1982 as a college student ignited a passion in me and set me on a career trajectory that changed my life. I never could have imagined I would be at the company’s helm decades later, working to carry Joel’s legacy forward. I hope that this book, and our future releases to come, can find today’s music and data nerds and ignite that same passion.”
About Record Research
Record Research Inc. is the authority on music industry chart performance. The company was founded by author and music historian Joel Whitburn in 1970, publishing music reference books that are relied upon by music industry professionals and devoted music fans worldwide. Covering 1890 through the present day, Record Research documents the music charts for genres including Pop, Country, R&B, Rock, Adult Contemporary, and Dance, detailing the complete history of the singles and albums that have appeared on the charts of Billboard magazine, as well as the singles charts of other music industry periodicals such as Cash Box, Gavin Report, Radio & Records, and Record World/Music Vendor.
Following Whitburn’s passing in 2022, Vinnie Freda joined Record Research as CEO and majority owner in September 2025, working with Publisher Kim Bloxdorf and head researcher Paul Haney to preserve and expand upon Whitburn’s legacy. The company is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
For more information, visit recordresearch.com.
Record Research Media Contacts
Laurie Jakobsen, Jaybird Communications, [email protected]
Bill Greenwood, Jaybird Communications, [email protected]