traditional folk music artists

436 published traditional folk music artists, led by The Beatles, Johnny Cash and Harry Styles. The list below shows the 120 most famous.

At a glance

436 published traditional folk music artists; 2,131 studio albums have verified cover art.

Published artists3 tier 1 · 32 tier 2 · 401 tier 3: 436
Release groups: 7,265
Studio albums: 2,612
Albums with cover artverified Cover Art Archive: 2,131
Timeline events: 3,744
Monthly listenerssum across artists: 260.4M
Claimed salessum of stored claims; implausible values excluded: 749M
Average career spanfirst to last dated release: 37.6 years
Full biographies: 258
Biography words: 577,553

When they started

Debut decade from each artist's earliest dated release. Most debuts fell in the 1960s (55 artists).

Artists by debut decade
Decade	Artists
1920s	1
1930s	1
1940s	3
1950s	16
1960s	55
1970s	36
1980s	23
1990s	31
2000s	39
2010s	25
2020s	2

204 artists have no dated release or formation year and are not plotted.

Where they come from

Countries with the most traditional folk music artists. United States leads with 137.

Often paired with

Genres that share artists with traditional folk music. The most shared is folk music, with 33 artists in both.

Covers from traditional folk music

2,131 studio albums have verified cover art. The 12 shown come from the most famous artists.

The Beatles Celebration
The Beatles · 1999
The World’s First Beatles Shaped CD
The Beatles · 1996
The Beatles Tapes From The David Wigg Interviews
The Beatles · 1990
The Compleat Beatles
The Beatles · 1982
Let It Be
The Beatles · 1970
Abbey Road
The Beatles · 1969
The Beatles
The Beatles · 1968
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles · 1967
Revolver
The Beatles · 1966
Yesterday and Today
The Beatles · 1966
Beatles VI
The Beatles · 1965
Rubber Soul
The Beatles · 1965

Leaders

Johnny Cash has the most release groups (300); Atahualpa Yupanqui the longest career (89 years); k.d. lang the most awards (34).

Most prolific

Most prolific, by number of release groups
Artist	release groups
Johnny Cash	300
The Beatles	294
Mike Oldfield	197
Chet Atkins	179
John Denver	162

Longest careers

first to last dated release

Longest careers, by number of years
Artist	years
Atahualpa Yupanqui	89
Clarence Ashley	86
Pete Seeger	78
Odetta	68
Chet Atkins	67

Most decorated

Most decorated, by number of awards
Artist	awards
k.d. lang	34
Lyudmila Zykina	31
Feist	24
Joan Baez	24
Johnny Cash	22

Most famous traditional folk music artists

The Beatles

United Kingdom · Group · 1960–1970

rock music, pop music, hard rock, rock and roll, blues rock, beat music, folk rock, psychedelic rock, traditional folk music, experimental rock, classic rock

35.2M listeners · 245 wikis

Johnny Cash

United States · Person · born 1932

rock and roll, traditional folk music, rockabilly, country music, gospel music, blues, outlaw country

12.2M listeners · 118 wikis

Harry Styles

United Kingdom · Person · born 1994

rock music, pop music, traditional folk music, soft rock, Britpop

62.4M listeners · 83 wikis

Nelly Furtado

Canada · Person · born 1978

pop music, traditional folk music, contemporary R&B, rhythm and blues, folk music, hip-hop, Latin music

36.6M listeners · 90 wikis

Hozier

Ireland · Person · born 1990

blues rock, traditional folk music, soul, rhythm and blues, blues, indie rock

40.7M listeners · 46 wikis

Cat Stevens

United Kingdom · Person · born 1948

rock music, pop music, traditional folk music, Islamic music

9M listeners · 72 wikis

John Denver

United States · Person · born 1943

rock music, pop music, folk rock, traditional folk music, country music, folk music, folk-pop

11.2M listeners · 65 wikis

Feist

Canada · Person · born 1976

pop music, traditional folk music, pop rock, folk music, indie rock, indie pop, indie folk, anti-folk

8.1M listeners · 39 wikis

Jim Croce

United States · Person · born 1943

folk rock, traditional folk music, blues, soft rock

8M listeners · 34 wikis

KT Tunstall

United Kingdom · Person · born 1975

traditional folk music

6.1M listeners · 40 wikis

Emilia

Bulgaria · Person · born 1982

traditional folk music, blue-eyed soul, folk-pop, chalga

10.7M listeners · 17 wikis

Gregory Alan Isakov

South Africa · Person · born 1979

traditional folk music

10.1M listeners · 12 wikis

More traditional folk music artists

Showing 1–108 of 108 artists

Joan Baez

United States · Person · born 1941

traditional folk music, country music, folk music, ballad, Afro-Cuban jazz

103 wikis · Tier 2

Fourtwnty

Indonesia · Group · 2010–present

traditional folk music, folk-pop

10.2M listeners · 5 wikis · Tier 3

Pete Seeger

United States · Person · born 1919

traditional folk music

89 wikis · Tier 2

Nikolai Noskov

Russia · Person · born 1956

pop music, hard rock, folk rock, psychedelic rock, traditional folk music, funk, rhythm and blues, glam rock, progressive rock, art rock, alternative rock, dance-rock, electro, synth-pop, new wave, funk rock, blue-eyed soul, glam metal, folk-pop, trip hop, symphonic rock, romance, bard song

78 wikis · Tier 2

Roberta Flack

United States · Person · born 1937

traditional folk music, soul, rhythm and blues, adult contemporary music, jazz

54 wikis · Tier 2

Emmelie de Forest

Kingdom of Denmark · Person · born 1993

pop music, traditional folk music, folk music

66 wikis · Tier 2

Víctor Jara

Chile · Person · born 1932

traditional folk music, protest song, nueva canción chilena

59 wikis · Tier 2

Chet Atkins

United States · Person · born 1924

traditional folk music, country music, jazz, classical music

41 wikis · Tier 2

Mike Oldfield

United Kingdom · Person · born 1953

pop music, traditional folk music, pop rock, progressive rock, classical music, ambient music, world music, new age music, Celtic fusion

56 wikis · Tier 3

Katie Melua

Soviet Union · Person · born 1984

pop music, traditional folk music, blues, jazz

55 wikis · Tier 3

Mercedes Sosa

Argentina · Person · born 1935

traditional folk music, folk music, popular music, trova

53 wikis · Tier 2

Michelle Phillips

United States · Person · born 1944

pop music, folk rock, psychedelic rock, traditional folk music, sunshine pop

42 wikis · Tier 2

k.d. lang

Canada · Person · born 1961

pop music, traditional folk music, country music, adult contemporary music, jazz, folk music, Americana

40 wikis · Tier 3

June Carter Cash

United States · Person · born 1929

traditional folk music, country music, folk music

47 wikis · Tier 2

Nick Drake

United Kingdom · Person · born 1948

traditional folk music, folk music, baroque pop

47 wikis · Tier 2

J.J. Cale

United States · Person · born 1938

traditional folk music, blues

45 wikis · Tier 2

Melanie

United States · Person · born 1947

pop music, traditional folk music, country music

44 wikis · Tier 2

John Phillips

United States · Person · born 1935

traditional folk music

34 wikis · Tier 2

Fabrizio De André

Italy · Person · born 1940

traditional folk music

43 wikis · Tier 2

Rory Gallagher

Ireland · Person · born 1948

traditional folk music, blues

42 wikis · Tier 2

Sami Yusuf

United Kingdom · Person · born 1980

traditional folk music

42 wikis · Tier 3

Mary Hopkin

United Kingdom · Person · born 1950

pop music, traditional folk music, progressive rock

38 wikis · Tier 3

Joanna Newsom

United States · Person · born 1982

traditional folk music, avant-garde music

38 wikis · Tier 3

Wolf Biermann

Germany · Person · born 1936

traditional folk music, Q1962393

38 wikis · Tier 3

Sixto Rodriguez

United States · Person · born 1942

folk rock, psychedelic rock, traditional folk music, psychedelic folk

38 wikis · Tier 2

Odetta

United States · Person · born 1930

pop music, traditional folk music, country blues, jazz blues, contemporary folk music

37 wikis · Tier 2

Glen Hansard

Ireland · Person · born 1970

rock music, folk rock, traditional folk music, indie rock, indie pop, indie folk, contemporary folk music

37 wikis · Tier 2

Lyudmila Zykina

Soviet Union · Person · born 1929

traditional folk music, estrada, romance, Russian folk song

35 wikis · Tier 2

Atahualpa Yupanqui

Argentina · Person · born 1908

traditional folk music, payada

34 wikis · Tier 2

Agnes Obel

Kingdom of Denmark · Person · born 1980

traditional folk music, classical music

34 wikis · Tier 3

The Kingston Trio

United States · Group · 1957–present

traditional folk music

24 wikis · Tier 3

Jake Bugg

United Kingdom · Person · born 1994

blues rock, folk rock, traditional folk music, blues, country rock, Americana, indie rock, indie folk, British blues

33 wikis · Tier 3

Sissel Kyrkjebø

Norway · Person · born 1969

pop music, traditional folk music, classical music, opera, operatic pop, classical crossover

33 wikis · Tier 3

John Sebastian

United States · Person · born 1944

folk rock, traditional folk music

23 wikis · Tier 3

Fazıl Say

Turkey · Person · born 1970

traditional folk music, classical music

32 wikis · Tier 3

John Martyn

United Kingdom · Person · born 1948

rock music, traditional folk music

31 wikis · Tier 2

Janis Ian

United States · Person · born 1951

pop music, traditional folk music

30 wikis · Tier 3

Imany

France · Person · born 1979

traditional folk music, soul, blues, folk music

30 wikis · Tier 3

José Afonso

Portugal · Person · born 1929

traditional folk music, protest song

29 wikis · Tier 3

Giorgos Dalaras

Greece · Person · born 1949

rock music, pop music, traditional folk music, classical music, music of Latin America, opera, symphonic music, laïko, éntekhno, Byzantine music, Rebetiko, Smyrneiko, dimotiko

28 wikis · Tier 3