***George Strait is an award-winning country music icon with 60 chart-topping singles…..
George Strait has had 83 career CMA Award nominations and 17 wins, including three for Entertainer of the Year. However, his most significant distinction happened on November 20. The 72-year-old earned the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 58th CMA Awards, after a rare performance of “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” with Chris Stapleton.
It’s the latest accolade for one of country music’s most enduring stars. The singer has sold more than 70 million albums and recorded 60 chart-topping singles during his career.
“There have been few other artists as authentically Texas and authentically country as George Strait, and country music fans all over the world have been better for it,” CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern said in a news release. “As a three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year and the most nominated artist of all time, he serves as an inspiration and icon to many of the great, new artists we know today.”
Previous recipients of the award include Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Loretta Lynn (2021), and of course, its namesake in 2012.
Who Is?
George Strait is one of the best-selling country musicians of all time, with 60 number-one hits and 31 platinum- or multiplatinum-certified albums. He started playing in a band while serving in the United States Army.
Strait signed a recording deal with MCA Records in the 1980s and went on to make a number of successful albums over the following three decades. He is known for maintaining faithful to the classic country sound and has received one Grammy and several other honors for putting together one of the most commercially successful boxed sets in music history.
George Strait’s Quick Profile
***FULL NAME: George Harvey Strait
***BORN: May 18, 1952
***BIRTHPLACE: Poteet, Texas
***SPOUSE: Norma Strait (1971-present)
***CHILDREN: Jenifer, George Jr.
***ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus
Where Is George Strait From?
George Harvey Strait was born in Poteet, Texas, on May 18, 1952. He was reared on his family’s farm in neighboring Pearsall.
Strait studied agriculture at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) before entering the United States Army. While stationed in Hawaii, he started singing with the Army-sponsored band Rambling Country. After returning to Texas, he formed his own band, Ace in the Hole, which had a sizable local fanbase.
George Strait’s Songs and Awards
After years of unsuccessful record deal negotiations, George Strait landed a solo contract with MCA Records in 1981. His debut album, Strait Country (1981), which included the smash song “Unwound,” had an impact on expanding radio play of more conventional, less pop-influenced country music. Strait went on to release a string of No. 1 albums over the next decade, including Strait From the Heart (1982), Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind (1984), Something Special (1985), Ocean Front Property (1987), and Beyond the Blue Neon (1989), all of which were certified platinum or multiplatinum. Strait was voted Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1989, and he repeated the honor in 1990 and 2013.
Strait made his starring debut in Pure Country in 1992, and he recorded many popular songs for the film’s soundtrack, including “I Cross My Heart,” “Heartland,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” and “The King of Broken Hearts.” Strait Out of the Box, a four-disc career retrospective published in 1995, sold more than 5 million copies. This made Strait’s Out of the Box the best-selling boxed set in country music history. Today, it has sold over 8 million copies in the United States alone.
Strait recorded several notable albums in the late 1990s, including Blue Clear Sky (1996), Carrying Your Love With Me (1997), and One Step At A Time (1998). His self-titled album, released in September 2000, included the smash songs “Go On,” “If It’s Gonna Rain,” and “She Took the Wind From His Sails.”
As the new century dawned, Strait remained a popular country music artist. Two singles from The Road Less Travelled (2001), “She’ll Leave You with a Smile” and “Living and Living Well,” peaked at number one on the country charts, and the album was certified platinum. In 2003, Honkytonkville had successes including “Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa” and “Cowboys Like Us.” President George W. Bush awarded Strait the National Medal of the Arts the same year.
Somewhere Down in Texas (2005) was another best-seller, thanks in part to the popularity of tracks like “You’ll Be There” and “She Let Herself Go.” “Good News, Bad News,” a duet with Lee Ann Womack from the album, received the CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year in 2005. Then came It Just Comes Natural (2006). The title tune and “Give It Away” were two of its multiple chart-topping singles. Strait earned two CMA Awards with It Just Comes Natural and was inducted into the CMA Hall of Fame.
Strait remained a prominent figure in country music with 2008’s Troubadour, which debuted at the top of the country album charts. The recording’s debut single, “I Saw God Today,” likewise peaked at number one on the country charts. Strait earned his sole Grammy Award in 2009, when Troubadour won Best Country Album. That year, he also received the Academy of Country Music’s (ACM) Artist of the Decade Award.
From 2011 to 2019, the singer released four albums: Here for a Good Time, Love Is Everything, Cold Beer Conversation, and Honky Tonk Time Machine, all of which peaked at number one on the country album chart. During this span, he also received his second ACM win for Entertainer of the Year, after his 1989 win.
George Strait embarked on The Cowboy Rides Away, widely regarded as his last tour, in 2014. He delivered his farewell musical appearance in Dallas in June. More than 100,000 people packed AT&T Stadium for the concert. Strait, on the other hand, broke his lengthy performance break in 2023 by starting on a six-stadium tour with Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town. In 2024, the group added nine more concerts.
Strait’s 31st studio album, Cowboys and Dreamers, was released in September 2024, and it includes the hit “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” featuring Stapleton. George Strait was selected two months later to win the CMA’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 58th CMA Awards.
George Strait’s Personal Life
Norma and George Strait were high school sweethearts and have been married for more than 50 years.
Strait eloped in Mexico with his high school sweetheart, Norma, in December 1971.
Their only son, George Jr. was born in May 1981 and sometimes goes by “Bubba.” He pursued a career as a professional rodeo competitor before transitioning into music. He has co-written multiple songs with his father, including “Living for the Night” and “Out of Sight, Out of Mind.”
George Sr. and Norma also had a daughter named Jenifer. Born in October 1972, Jenifer tragically died in a car accident in 1986 when she was a young teenager. Following the incident, Strait chose not to give interviews for years. “I just kind of shut down,” he told The New Yorker in 2017. In honor of her life, the family founded The Jenifer Lynn Strait Foundation, which raises money for children’s charities.
Outside of his family and music career, Strait has several interests, including steer-roping, golf, and skiing.
George Strait’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Strait has amassed a total fortune of around ***$300 million as of August 2024.
George Strait’s Quotes
****Life’s not the breath you take, but the moments that take your breath away.
****As we look into the future, it’s as far as we can see. So let’s make each tomorrow be the best that it can be.
****I’m not here for a long time. I’m here for a short time.
