Strait, Lainey, Dierks On Tom Petty Tribute Album

Country superstars like Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Wynonna Judd, and Dierks Bentley will pay tribute to rock and roll legend Tom Petty. The new album, dubbed Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty, is slated for release later this year.

Dierks has the album's lead release with his cover of Petty's "American Girl," out today (2/23).

Bentley said of the song in a statement, "Petty's southern roots shined through across his songwriting and storytelling. He might not have ever been considered as country, but you can't go into a bar in Nashville without hearing this song. It is one of the greatest songs in a life's work of great American songs."

He added, "The spirit of this woman, the idea of such relentless hope – and disappointment – ignites such a spark. Jon (Randall, Producer) and I were driven to make that feeling of American roots stand tall."

"American Girl" was written by Petty and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for their self-titled debut album in 1976. While not a big chart success at the time, the song became one of Petty's most popular songs.

"American Girl" was the last song performed in concert by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They played it to close out the encore of their performance on September 25, 2017, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California, the final concert of their 40th Anniversary Tour.

The rock star died of complications from cardiac arrest after an accidental prescription medication overdose on October 2, 2017.

Petty took a swipe at modern country music in 2013 when on stage, he referred to it as "bad rock with a fiddle." He later told Rolling Stone in an interview, "I don't really see a George Jones or a Buck Owens or anything that fresh coming up. I'm sure there must be somebody doing it, but most of that music reminds me of rock in the middle 80s, where it became incredibly generic and relied on videos." But clearly country artists still love and respect his music.

Country music tells stories of real life. And no genre sings it better when it comes to heartbreak, the loss of love, and divorce.

Looking back to the 1960s and 1970s, there were two songs about splits by country music queens of their day: Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. Lynn sang the classic "Rated X," which was out in 1972, and talked about what women go through in the public eye after a divorce. It was quite salty at the time it came out.

Wynette is known for the ultimate country music divorce song, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," which topped the country charts in 1968. It was six years later, in 1975, that she and George Jones got divorced. It was a huge deal at the time because, in their day, they were the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill of country music.

Fast forward to the 2020s, and breakups and heartbreaks leading to divorce still top the country's music charts. Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton are close to topping the charts with their GRAMMY Nominated (Best Duo/Group Performance) heartbreak duet about a couple that communicates so little: "We Don't Even Fight Anymore."

They say divorce is one of the three most stressful changes in life, next to death, sickness, and losing a job. Sadly, statistics say that 40-50 percent of marriages these days end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce.

In country music, many marriages end in divorce, so when Tim and Faith celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary last year, it really was something to celebrate. They are not the only marriage success in country music as Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and Keith Urban, and Nicole Kidman are approaching 20 years of wedded bliss.

We look at five country music songs about the loss of love and divorce.

This Dolly Parton classic is the ultimate divorce song. The song lyrics' first verse gets right to the point, "Momma moved out / Daddy sold the house / They split up the money / And went on their way / And all the king's horses / And all the king's men / Couldn't put mommy and daddy back together again."

This Dolly album, Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, came out right before she released her 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs album, which brought her a whole new set of music and movie fans. Reba remade this touching song on her 1995 On My Own album, where she recorded some of her favorite covers.

Reba McEntire with Kenny Chesney - Reba makes another divorce song that hits home for many going through this tough lot in life. This song appeared on her 2007 Duets album. The song features Kenny Chesney and tells the tale of divorce from both sides, Mom and Dad.

The two released a video for the song, which features the couple exchanging kids. It features video footage of Reba sitting in a park but just Chesney's vocals.

The King of Country Music himself, sings the sad tale of divorce in his 2006 hit "Give It Away." The song details the stuff being divided when a married couple split. The song was written by Jamey Johnson, Bill Anderson, and Buddy Cannon. Jonhson's divorce inspired it at the time. The song became Strait's 41st No. 1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, setting a new record for most No. 1 singles on that chart at the time. Conway Twitty held the previous record for number-one hits.

This classic breakup song is epic, with Miranda telling her mom not to share her advice after such a bad breakup. The song was written by Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally.

Lambert told us of the song when it came out in 2013, "I think we all have at some point or another, mostly when we're young. Especially crazy teenage love — you think the world is ending if you break up." The music video really adds to the tension of the song, as we see Miranda playing the role of someone not dealing very well with a breakup.

This heartbreaking big hit from Keith Urban ranked number one on the country charts and even peaked at number 6 on the US Adult Top 40 chart. The song's lyrics say in the chorus, "Take your records, take your freedom / Take your memories, I don't need 'em / Take your space and take your reasons / But you'll think of me."

The music video for the song features Keith singing in a dark and empty house with flashbacks of good times with his love.