Editing Conway Twitty (section)

===Country music career===
Twitty always wanted to record country music, and, beginning in 1965, he did just that. Disc jockeys on some country-music radio stations refused to play his first few country albums, because he was known as a rock and roll singer. However, he had his first top-five country hit, "The Image of Me", in July 1968, followed by his first number one country song, "[[Next in Line (Conway Twitty song)|Next in Line]]", in November 1968. Few of his singles beginning in 1968 ranked below the top five.
[[File:Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty.jpg|thumb|Twitty and frequent duet partner [[Loretta Lynn]] in a promotional image for their 1974 release ''[[Country Partners]].'']]
In 1970, Twitty recorded and released his biggest country hit, "[[Hello Darlin' (song)|Hello Darlin']]", which spent four weeks at the top of the country chart and is one of Twitty's most recognized songs. In 1971, he released his first hit duet with [[Loretta Lynn]], "[[After the Fire Is Gone]]". It was a success, and many more followed, including "[[Lead Me On (Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn song)|Lead Me On]]" (1971), "[[Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man (song)|Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man]]" (1973), "[[As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone]]" (1974), "[[Feelins']]" (1975), "I Still Believe in Waltzes", "[[I Can't Love You Enough]]", and many others. Together, Conway and Loretta (as they were known in their act) won four consecutive [[Country Music Association]] awards for vocal duo (1972–1975) and a host of other duo and duet awards from other organizations throughout the 1970s.

In 1973, Twitty released "[[You've Never Been This Far Before]]", which was number 1 in country for three weeks that September and also reached number 22 on the pop charts. Some more conservative disc jockeys refused to play the song, believing that some of the lyrics were too sexually suggestive.

In 1978, Twitty issued the single "The Grandest Lady of Them All" honoring the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]''. (Somewhat ironically, Twitty was never inducted into the ''Opry'' during his lifetime; he remains one of the more prominent [[Nashville]] country artists never to have been an Opry member.) The single reached the top 20, peaking at number 16, but it was well below expectations; it was the first time since 1967 that a single of his failed to reach the top ten, as some radio stations refused to play a song honoring the property of a competitor (broadcast by [[WSM-AM]]).

Twitty soon renewed his image with a new hairstyle, changing from the slicked-back [[pompadour (hairstyle)|pompadour]] style to the curlier style he would keep for the rest of his life; by the late 1970s, Twitty had shifted his musical arrangements into a [[country pop]] style he would maintain for the rest of his career.<ref name=Kamau>{{cite web |url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-conway-twitty-songs/ |title=Top 10 Conway Twitty Songs |last=Kamau |first=Eric |date=January 2022 |publisher=Classic Rock History |access-date=2022-11-18}}</ref> His next 23 consecutive singles all made it into the top 10, with 13 reaching number one, including "[[Don't Take It Away]]", "[[I May Never Get to Heaven]]", "[[Happy Birthday Darlin']]", and remakes of major pop hits such as "[[The Rose (song)|The Rose]]", "[[Slow Hand]]" and "Tight Fittin' Jeans", a song written by Michael Huffman, released in June 1981 as the first single from the album ''Mr. T''. The song was Twitty's 26th number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of 10 weeks on the country chart. In 1985, going by all weekly music trade charts, the song "[[Don't Call Him a Cowboy]]" became the 50th single of his career to achieve a number-one ranking. He would have six more through 1991, giving him a total of 56 number-one country hits in the USA. [[George Strait]] matched the feat of 50 number-one hits in 2002 with his single "[[She'll Leave You with a Smile]]" and then reached number 1 for the 56th time in 2007, when the single "[[Wrapped (Bruce Robison song)|Wrapped]]" hit the top on the Media Base 24/7 list.

Throughout much of Twitty's country music career his recording home was Decca Records, later renamed [[MCA Records|MCA]]. He signed with the label in late 1965 but left in 1981, when it appeared MCA was marketing and promoting newer acts; management at the label had changed, in addition to other factors that brought on the decision. He joined Elektra/Asylum in 1982. That label's country music unit merged with sister label [[Warner Bros. Records]] in 1983. He stayed with Warner Bros. through early 1987 but then went back to MCA to finish his career. In 1993, shortly before he died, he recorded a new album, ''[[Final Touches]]''.