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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1985.

• January — In radio, the United Stations Programming Network’s "Solid Gold Country," a country music spinoff of the oldies-focused "Solid Gold Scrapbook," switches from a three-hour-a-week show to a five-day-a-week program (with the option to air all five hours in as a weekly program). Under the new format, each hourly program covered a different topic, such as a profile on a singer, songwriter or producer; a look back at the popular songs from the current week in a past year, gold records from the current month and other topics under virtually every conceivable topic. The new program will run 8-1/2 years.
• May 6 - 20th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
• A story published in The New York Times declares that country music is "dead." However, a number of new acts – Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam among them – are working behind the scenes to change the trend.
• The Country Music Association Awards introduced a new award, Music Video of the Year. The first recipient was Hank Williams Jr.'s video for "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight."

• Hee Haw (1969–1993, syndicated)
• That Nashville Music (1970–1985, syndicated)

• January 20 – Brantley Gilbert, singer of the 2010s best known for "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do"
• May 14 – Dustin Lynch, country singer-songwriter of the 2010s and 2020s
• May 20 – Jon Pardi, country singer of the 2010s
• June 12 – Chris Young, winner on the fourth season of Nashville Star
• August 26 – Brian Kelley, member of Florida Georgia Line, a duo of the 2010s.
• September 1 — Charlie Worsham, singer/multi-instrumentalist honored by the Mississippi state senate^[1]
• September 19 — Chase Rice, country singer of the 2010s

• July 17 – Wynn Stewart, 51, key progenitor of the Bakersfield sound, known for hits such as "It's Such a Pretty World Today" (heart attack)
• August 8 – Benny Barnes, 51, former rhythm guitarist for George Jones, best known for his 1956 hit "Poor Man's Riches"^[2]
• October 11 -- Tex Williams, 68, Western swing and talking blues performer best known for "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" (pancreatic cancer)

• Flatt and Scruggs (Lester Flatt 1914–1979 and Earl Scruggs 1924–2012)

• Don Messer
• Hank Snow

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me", Rosanne Cash
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Lost in the Fifties Tonight", Ronnie Milsap
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Why Not Me" The Judds
• Best Country Instrumental Performance — "Cosmic Square Dance", Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler
• Best Country Song — "Highwayman," Jimmy Webb (Performer: The Highwaymen)

• Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Murray McLauchlan
• Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Anne Murray
• Country Group or Duo of the Year — Family Brown

• Entertainer of the Year — Alabama
• Song of the Year — "Lost in the Fifties Tonight", Fred Parris, Mike Reid and Troy Seals (Performer: Ronnie Milsap)
• Single of the Year — "Highwayman", The Highwaymen
• Album of the Year — Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind, George Strait
• Top Male Vocalist — George Strait
• Top Female Vocalist — Reba McEntire
• Top Vocal Duo — The Judds
• Top Vocal Group — Alabama
• Top New Male Vocalist — Randy Travis
• Top New Female Vocalist — Judy Rodman
• Video of the Year — "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?", George Jones (Directors: Marc Ball)

• Entertainer of the Year — Dick Damron
• Male Artist of the Year — Terry Carisse
• Female Artist of the Year — Carroll Baker
• Group of the Year — The Mercey Brothers
• SOCAN Song of the Year — "Counting the I Love You's", Terry Carisse, Bruce Rawlins (Performer: Terry Carisse)
• Single of the Year — "Riding on the Wind", Gary Fjellgaard
• Album of the Year — Closest Thing to You, Terry Carisse
• Top Selling Album — Once Upon a Christmas, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
• Vista Rising Star Award — Ginny Mitchell
• Duo of the Year — Anita Perras and Tim Taylor

• Entertainer of the Year — Ricky Skaggs
• Song of the Year — "God Bless the USA", Lee Greenwood (Performer: Lee Greenwood)
• Single of the Year — "Why Not Me", The Judds
• Album of the Year — Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind, George Strait
• Male Vocalist of the Year — George Strait
• Female Vocalist of the Year — Reba McEntire
• Vocal Duo of the Year — Dave Loggins and Anne Murray
• Vocal Group of the Year — The Judds
• Horizon Award — Sawyer Brown
• Music Video of the Year — "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", Hank Williams Jr. (Director: John Goodhue)
• Instrumentalist of the Year — Chet Atkins
• Instrumental Group of the Year — Ricky Skaggs Band

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

• Kingsbury, Paul, The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories, Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995 (ISBN 978-0679435563)
• Kingsbury, Paul, Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989, Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music, HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel, Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition. 2005 (ISBN 978-0898201659)

• Country Music Hall of Fame