Songwriters Hall of Fame member Ashley Gorley has been named the No. 1 songwriter on Billboard’s Country Singles charts from 1944-2025 by Record Research, Inc., the authority on music industry chart performance. The list is determined by a formula that accounts for each songwriter’s compositions that peaked at No. 1, within the weekly Top 40, or elsewhere on the Country singles charts from January 8, 1944, through December 27, 2025.

Gorley is also set to join “The Songwriters Behind Country’s Biggest Hits” panel at CMA Fest, alongside Record Research CEO Vinnie Freda and Shane McAnally, and moderated by Billboard Country Update Editor Tom Roland. The panel is set to take place on Saturday, June 6 at the CMA Close Up Stage inside Music City Center.

The Kentucky native was also honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Poets and Prophets program on Saturday, May 30. Moderated by Allison Moorer, Gorley discussed getting his start as a songwriter, his writing process, his work ethic and affinity for mentoring songwriters, the founding of his independent publishing company Tape Room Music, his partnership with Onsite to create songwriter-specific therapy programs and more.

With over 85 No. 1 singles (Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase combined), Gorley was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last year, and in recent years, he has held the number-one spot on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 Songwriter chart for multiple weeks, earned GRAMMY, CMA and ACM Award honors, including Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year, and was named Songwriter of the Decade for 2010-2019 at the Nashville Songwriter Awards.

Gorley will be featured in Record Research’s new book, Joel Whitburn’s History of Top Country Singles 1944-2025, which will be officially released on June 4, 2026. The book is available for preorder now at recordresearch.com.