Nashville's hit-making songwriters ranked based on Billboard success

Between the lines: The new review from Record Research Inc. used chart data from 1944 to 2025, with a formula that tabulated individual songwriters' overall success generating hits.

• Billboard unveiled the list last week in its country music newsletter.

Zoom in: No. 1 was the unstoppable Ashley Gorley, one of the most successful songwriters in music history. He's had a hand in nearly 200 Billboard hits so far, according to the analysis. They include the 2020s chart-toppers "Last Night" and "I Had Some Help."

• Fellow hitmaker Shane McNally came in at No. 2, powered by songs like "Body Like a Back Road" and "Follow Your Arrow."
• The 1980s and '90s powerhouse Bob McDill, who wrote "Gone Country" for Alan Jackson, followed at No. 3.
• Bill Anderson, a singer-songwriter responsible for his own hits as well as other gems like "Whiskey Lullaby," was No. 4.
• Harlan Howard, the man behind some of the genre's classic standards like "I Fall to Pieces" and "Heartaches by the Number," was No. 5.