On CMT: Episode Feature Copy  

100. You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly / Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
99. Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer / Kenny Rogers & Kim Carnes
98. Brotherly Love / Earl Thomas Conley & Keith Whitley
97. The Yellow Rose / Johnny Lee & Lane Brody
96. I Fall To Pieces / Trisha Yearwood & Aaron Neville
95. Please Don't Stop Loving Me / Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton
94. A Bad Goodbye / Clint Black & Wynonna
93. Tell Me About It / Tanya Tucker & Delbert McClinton
92. Old Friends / Willie Nelson & Roger Miller
91. All I Have To Do Is Dream / Glen Campbell & Bobbie Gentry
90. Why Don't We Just Sleep On It Tonight? / Glen Campbell & Tanya Tucker
89. We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds / Geo Jones & Melba Montgomery
88. Act Naturally / Buck Owens & Ringo Starr
87. Who's Gonna Take The Garbage Out / Loretta Lynn & Ernest Tubb
86. Love Can't Ever Get Better Than This / Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White
85. A Dear John Letter / Ferlin Husky & Jean Shepard
84. Bar Room Buddies / Merle Haggard & Clint Eastwood
83. Don't Go Out / Tanya Tucker & T Graham Brown
82. Faded Love / Willie Nelson & Ray Price
81. Poor Boy Blues / Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler
80. Trip Around The Sun / Jimmy Buffett & Martina McBride
79. It's Such A Small World / Rodney Crowell & Rosanne Cash
78. From The Bottle To The Bottom / Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge
77. Cattle Call / LeAnn Rimes & Eddy Arnold
76. Meet Me In Montana / Marie Osmond & Dan Seals
75. Longneck Bottle / Garth Brooks & Steve Wariner
74. Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best / Travis Tritt & Marty Stuart
73. I Don't Want To Have To Marry You / Jim Ed Brown & Helen Cornelius
72. Stranger In The House / George Jones & Elvis Costello
71. Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy / Garth Brooks & Chris LeDoux
70. Nobody Loves Me Like You Do / Anne Murray & Dave Loggins
69. A Good Year For The Roses / George Jones & Alan Jackson
68. A Place To Fall Apart / Merle Haggard & Janie Fricke
67. What If I Said / Anita Cochran & Steve Wariner
66. Near You / George Jones & Tammy Wynette
65. Rainy Night In Georgia / Conway Twitty & Sam Moore
64. Heartbreak Hotel / Willie Nelson & Leon Russell
63. Somewhere In The Vicinity of the Heart / Shenandoah & Alison Krauss
62. Don't Let Me Cross Over / Carl Butler & Pearl Butler
61. Sweet Thang / Loretta Lynn & Ernest Tubb
60. We Believe In Happy Endings / Earl Thomas Conley & Emmylou Harris
59. Out Of Control Raging Fire / Travis Tritt & Patty Loveless
58. Bartender's Blues / George Jones & James Taylor
57. What Are We Doing In Love / Dottie West & Kenny Rogers
56. I'll Fly Away / Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch
55. It's Five O'Clock Somewhere / Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett
54. Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man / Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner
53. Rockin' Years / Dolly Parton & Ricky Van Shelton
52. 'Til A Tear Becomes A Rose / Lorrie Morgan & Keith Whitley
51. High Lonesome Sound / Vince Gill & Alison Krauss
50. Luckenbach, Texas / Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
49. Murder On Music Row / Alan Jackson & George Strait
48. If You See Him / If You See Her / Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn
47. Squeeze Me In / Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood
46. How's The World Treating You / Alison Krauss & James Taylor
45. Funny How Time Slips Away / Rev. Al Green & Lyle Lovett
44. Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me / Faith Hill & Tim McGraw
43. My Elusive Dreams / Tammy Wynette & David Houston
42. That Lovin' You Feelin' Again / Roy Orbison & Emmylou Harris
41. September When It Comes / Rosanne Cash & Johnny Cash
40. Storms Never Last / Waylon Jennings & Jessi Colter
39. Slippin' Around / Jimmy Wakely & Margaret Whiting
38. If I Needed You / Don Williams & Emmylou Harris
37. I Will Always Love You / Dolly Parton & Vince Gill
36. Let's Make Love / Faith Hill & Tim McGraw
35. To All the Girls I've Loved Before / Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias
34. You Don't Seem To Miss Me / Patty Loveless & George Jones
33. Picture / Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow
32. My Kind Of Woman, My Kind of Man / Vince Gill & Patty Loveless
31. Beer For My Horses / Toby Keith & Willie Nelson
30. Hickory Wind / Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
29. If I Were A Carpenter / Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
28. Portland, Oregon / Loretta Lynn & Jack White
27. Crying / Roy Orbison & k.d. lang
26. Streets Of Bakersfield / Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens
25. Mendocino County Line / Willie Nelson & Lee Ann Womack
24. Just Someone I Used To Know / Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner
23. Two Story House / George Jones & Tammy Wynette
22. Happy Trails / Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
21. Good Hearted Woman / Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
20. Walkaway Joe / Trisha Yearwood & Don Henley
19. Pancho & Lefty / Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard
18. The Heart Won't Lie / Reba McEntire & Vince Gill
17. In Another's Eyes / Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood
16. Golden Ring / George Jones & Tammy Wynette
15. Seven Spanish Angels / Ray Charles & Willie Nelson
14. Whiskey Lullaby / Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss
13. It's Your Love / Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
12. The Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore/ Travis Tritt & Marty Stuart
11. When I Said I Do/ Clint Black & Lisa Hartman Black
10. After The Fire Is Gone/ Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty
9. Does He Love You/ Reba McEntire/ Linda Davis
8. Every Time Two Fools Collide/ Dottie West & Kenny Rogers
7. You And I/ Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle
6. You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma/ David Frizzel & Shelly West
5. We're Gonna Hold On/ Tammy Wynette & George Jones
4. Jackson/ Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
3. Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys/ Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings
2. Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man/ Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty
1. Islands In The Stream/ Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers

"Islands in the Stream" sailed away with the distinction of being country's greatest duet during a CMT taping in Nashville. And for the first time in 15 years, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers sang the memorable love song side by side.

Their energetic performance of the 1983 classic capped the countdown of CMT 100 Greatest Duets, which will air as a television special in September. New artists such as American Idol's Carrie Underwood and longtime favorites like Crystal Gayle offered the Top 12 selections for thousands of country fans in town for the CMA Music Festival that began Thursday (June 9) morning.

Thanks to "Islands in the Stream," Rogers and Parton are among the most famous duet partners in country music history, although their contemporaries -- like George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn -- were not certainly forgotten during the concert at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

Patty Loveless and Travis Tritt revived "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man," made famous by Lynn and Twitty in 1973, and their obvious friendship elevated the duet to more than just live karaoke. Watching them together and remembering their partnership on Loveless' Mountain Soul album, it's easy to imagine them making a duets record of their own someday.

Shooter Jennings (son of Waylon) and Montgomery Gentry teamed for Waylon and Willie's classic "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," inviting the crowd to sing along. Rebecca Lynn Howard had a ball on Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's "Jackson," teasing newcomer Keith Anderson in her fluffy blue dress. Joe Nichols and Lee Ann Womack showed their country roots on the Jones-Wynette favorite, "We're Gonna Hold On."

Proving that some newcomers do know their history, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert turned up the twang on "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma," the missing-you song that brought fame to Shelly West and David Frizzell in 1981. Their sparks had some fans thinking they might be romantically linked. (Blame the power of a good duet sung very convincingly.) Gayle reprised her role for the romantic "You and I," her 1981 crossover hit with the late Eddie Rabbitt. Raul Malo, who also served as the show's musical director, effortlessly stepped in with his sweeping vocals.

Not every country duet is a love song, of course, and conflict always makes a story more compelling. Rogers and Womack joined for the imminent break-up of "Every Time Two Fools Collide," which Rogers released with Dottie West in 1978. Underwood and Jamie O'Neal duked it out on "Does He Love You," right down to the wailing vocals in the Reba McEntire-Linda Davis version from 1993. Terri Clark and Trace Adkins, who also teamed up to host the concert, reminded fans that they are hardcore honky-tonkers at heart by offering another Lynn-Twitty hit, 1971's "After the Fire Is Gone."

At the beginning of the countdown, the crowd welcomed two relatively recent favorites, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman-Black's "When I Said I Do" (1999) and Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart's "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" (1991), sung by the artists themselves.

But what about "Luckenbach, Texas" or "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" or "Golden Ring," or "Whiskey Lullaby"? Those are somewhere in the countdown, too, along with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow's "Picture" and Toby Keith and Willie Nelson's "Beer For My Horses." Though Lynn and Twitty barely missed the top spot, they did close out the countdown -- with "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly."

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