A relative country newcomer competes for the top spot on December's Top 40 Country Songs list. While Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban and stars you've long been familiar with anchor this monthly list of country's top songs, one tall rookie is in contention to take the No. 1 spot.

He's not alone. Old Dominion and Jon Pardi are two other new artists with songs in the Top 10, while the CMA New Artist of the Year sits at No. 13. Further down the list you'll find Miranda Lambert, Eric Church and Garth Brooks, but the Top 40 Songs play no favorites. It's all about the song.

Songs near the top of this list today will help shape songs we hear on the radio in January. We've met new stars in the making this year, men and women who will surely be regulars on the list of Top 40 Country Songs for months to come.

The list of Top 40 Country Songs of December 2016 is compiled from Billboard chart data and sales figures, in addition to staff opinion and reader feedback.

Top 40 Country Songs for December 2016:

40. Ronnie Dunn (Feat. Kix Brooks), “Damn Drunk”
39. Trent Harmon, “There’s a Girl”
38. Drake White, “Makin’ Me Look Good Again”
37. Josh Turner, “Hometown Girl”
36. Runaway June, “Lipstick”
35. Darius Rucker, “If I Told You”
34. Craig Campbell, “Outskirts of Heaven”
33. Dan + Shay, “How Not To”
32. Dierks Bentley, “Black”
31. Michael Ray, “Think a Little Less”
30. High Valley, “Make You Mine”
29. Luke Combs, “Hurricane” — SONG TO WATCH!
28. Cole Swindell, “Middle of a Memory”
27. Brothers Osborne, “21 Summer”
26. Jason Aldean, “Any Ol’ Barstool”
25. Kelsea Ballerini, “Yeah Boy”
24. Granger Smith, “If the Boots Fits”
23. Garth Brooks, “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance”
22. RaeLynn, “Love Triangle”
21. Chris Janson, “Holdin’ Her”
20. Dustin Lynch, “Seein’ Red”
19. Chris Stapleton, “Parachute”
18. Lauren Alaina, “Road Less Traveled”
17. Brad Paisley, “Today”
16. Blake Shelton, “A Guy With a Girl”
15. Brantley Gilbert, “The Weekend”
14. Chris Young (Feat. Vince Gill), “Sober Saturday Night”
13. Maren Morris, “80s Mercedes”
12. Miranda Lambert, “We Should Be Friends” — HIGHEST DEBUT!
11. Tim McGraw, “How I’ll Always Be”
10. Jon Pardi, “Dirt on My Boots”
9. Brett Eldredge, “Wanna Be That Song”
8. Eric Church (Feat. Rhiannon Giddens)
7. Old Dominion, “Song for Another Time”
6. Carrie Underwood, “Dirty Laundry”
5. Florida Georgia Line (Feat. Tim McGraw), “May We All”
4. Thomas Rhett, “Star of the Show”
3. Brett Young, “Sleep Without You”
2. Little Big Town, “Better Man” — BIGGEST JUMP, UP 28 SPOTS!
1. Keith Urban, “Blue Ain’t Your Color” — TWO MONTHS AT NO. 1!

Did Your Favorite Song Make Our Top 40 Country Songs List for December 2016?

What would you add to our list of the Top 40 country songs for December 2016? Share your opinions on this list — as well as the songs that deserve to be included, but weren’t — in the comments section below.

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