- Taylor Swift has become one of country music's major international ambassadors. The Associated Press reported in February 2011 that Swift's latest album, "Speak Now," achieved platinum sales status in Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. Swift accepted platinum awards for these sales during a tour stop at Hong Kong's Asia World-Expo Arena. The Grammy winning artist built on the success of her previous album, "Fearless," which sold 400,000 copies, according to the Associated Press.
- Australia has hosted a vibrant country music scene since the 1930s and 1940s, when icons like Tex Morton and Slim Dusty popularized country music, according to a history written by John Minson and Max Ellis. Dusty also scored Australia's first international country music hit, "Pub With No Beer," in 1957. Tamworth is Australia's country music capital, hosting a festival that draws 70,000 to 80,000 patrons per year. Australia also boasts crossover stars like pop singer Kylie Minogue, whose albums regularly sell 500,000 units, Minson and Ellis say.
- Mexican artists have made their influences felt through the country's dominant style of grupero. Characterized by a rapid march beat and brass sections, grupero artists sing about bandits, drug kingpins and gangland executions, according to the "New York Times." Such close associations with lawless culture have led to many deaths, including the December 2007 kidnap-torture slaying of Grammy-nominated artist Sergio Gómez. Gómez was the lead singer of K-Paz de la Sierra.
- Unlikely as it seems, Russia has become something of a country music mecca. Anti-war folk singer Pete Seeger became the first American star to visit Russia in 1957. Tours by Tennessee Ernie Ford, Roy Clark and the Nitty Gritty Band followed in the 1970s. Ornament and Time Machine emerged as the first homegrown stars in the 1980s. The music has gained wider exposure through the successes of artists like Bering Strait, whose album earned a Grammy nomination in 2003.
- Country became an essential soundtrack through American army personnel stationed in the U.K. during World War II, according to historian Graham Lees. The cycle repeated in the 1950s, when merchant seamen brought their favorite country records with them. According to Lees, 1968 became the watershed year, when Mervyn Conn staged the first International Country Music Festival. The scene focuses on events such as the Americana International Festival, which started as a car enthusiasts' showcase, Lees says.
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