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Crossing over has been a music trend throughout the years. Country artists Eddie Arnold, Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain and Faith Hill have successfully crossed to the pop charts. Though it's easy for country artists to go pop, it's tricky for pop/rock artists to go country.

"It has been going on for decades," said Beverly Keel, celebrity columnist for The Tennessean and professor of recording industry at Middle Tennessee State University.

A crossover happens when a musician or artist in one genre finds success in another genre.

In the past, we have seen many country artists find success on the pop charts and radio. In the 90s, Shania Twain crossed over with her song "From This Moment," and Faith Hill with her song "Breathe."

Today, we have seen Taylor Swift cross over with "Our Song" and "Should Have Said No." Because of their well-established fan base, country musicians are more successful at crossing over.

Though it's more common to see a successful crossover from country to pop, recently music has seen more pop to country crossovers.

Jessica Simpson, Jewel and Darius Rukcer from '90s rock band Hootie and the Blowfish are the most recent crossovers mainstream country has seen.

Although when asked they would tell you something cheesy like "their heart was always country" but the truth is obvious.

"[They had] a lack of success in other genres," Keel said. "Clearly [if they] had huge success in pop [they] would have stayed."

Keel said that people at the peak of their career are not going to cross over. "Justin Timberlake and the Jonas Brothers are not going to cross over," Keel said.

"Part of the reason labels sign them is name recognition," Keel said. "Some fans will buy all the albums."

Name recognition helps sell albums. Today, album sales are down. "It's difficult to sell albums. [The labels] are up for anything," Keel said.

In the early 90s, country crossovers where huge because the country scene was hot. Artists who cross over have been called carpetbaggers by many country artists and industry people.

The song "Gone Country" by Alan Jackson pokes fun of pop singers "pretending to be country," Keel said.

On the other hand, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow entered the country scene without even officially crossing over. "They have success in country and rock," Keel said, "They didn't leave rock for country - country embraced them."

Though albums from crossing-over artists oftentimes debut at number one, Keel questions their long-term success.

"How is it selling three to six months out?" she said.

http://media.www.theallstate.com/media/storage/paper801/news/2008/10/01/Features/Musicians.Cross.Over-3460511.shtml