 George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and music producer. He is known as the king of country and is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. He is known for his neo-traditionalist country style, cowboy look, and being one of the first and main country artists to bring country music back to its roots and away from the pop country era in the 1980s. Strait's success began when his first single Unwound was a hit in 1981. During the 1980s, seven of his albums reached number one on the country charts. In the twenty-hundreds, Strait was named artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music, was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and won his first Grammy Award for the album Troubadour. Strait was named CMA Entertainer of the year in 1989, 1990 and 2013, and ACM Entertainer of the year in 1990 and 2014. He has been nominated for more CMA and ACM awards and has more wins in both categories than any other artist. In 2009, he broke Conway Twitty's previous record for the most number one hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart when his forty-five number one singles surpassed Twitty's forty dot counting all music charts, Strait has amassed a total of sixty one number one hits, breaking a record also previously set by Twitty, and giving him more number one songs than any other artist in any genre of music. Strait is also known for his touring career when he designed a 360-degree configuration and introduced festival-style tours. For example, the Strait tours earned $90 million in three years dot his concert at a Tonne Stadium in Arlington, TX in June 2014 drew 104,793 people, marking a new record for largest indoor concert in North America dot Strait was successful innovating country music and in numerous aspects of being a part of popular music. Strait has sold more than 100 million records worldwide making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His certifications from the RIAA include 13 multi-platinum, 33 platinum, and 38 gold albums. His best-selling album is Pure Country, 1992, which sold 6 million, 6 and times, platinum. His highest certified album is Straight Out of the Box, 1995, which sold 2 million copies, 8 and times, platinum due to being a box set with 4 CDs. According to the RIAA, Strait is the 12th best-selling album recording artist in the United States overall. Early Life George Harvey Strait was born on May 18, 1952, in Poteet, Texas, to John Byron Strait, Sr., January 11, 1922 – June 4, 2013, and Doris Kouser, June 26, 1930 – January 30, 2010. He grew up in nearby Parasol, in Frio County, where his father was a junior high school mathematics teacher and the owner of a cattle ranch outside of Big Wells, Texas. The family worked at the ranch on the weekends and in the summers. When George was in the fourth grade, his father and mother were divorced, and his mother moved away with his sister, Pensy. George and his brother John, Jr., or buddy, 1952 – 2009, were raised by their father. Strait began his musical interest while attending Parasol High School, where he played in a rock and roll garage band. The Beatles were popular when Strait was in high school. The Beatles were big, Strait confirmed. I listened to them a lot and that whole bunch of groups that were popular then. His musical preference soon turned to country with singers Hank Thompson, Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, and Frank Sinatra influencing his style. Strait did not tune to the country music radio often as a youth, usually listening to the news and the farmer's report. His introduction to country music came mostly by way of live performances, which, according to Strait, could be heard in every town in Texas.He eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma. The couple initially married in Mexico on December 4, 1971. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Army. While stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii as a part of the 25th Infantry Division, Strait began performing with a U.S. Army-sponsored band, Rambling Country, which played off-base under the name Santee.On October 6, 1972, while still in Hawaii, George and Norma had their first child, Jennifer. After Strait was honorably discharged from the Army in 1975, he enrolled at Texas State University in San Marcos and graduated with a degree in agriculture. During his college years, he joined the country band Stoney Ridge, answering a flyer the band posted around campus looking for a new vocalist. Strait renamed the group the Ace in the whole band and quickly became the lead, they began to perform at different honky-tonks and bars around south and central Texas, traveling as far east as Huntsville and Houston.They gained a regional following and opened for national acts such as the Texas Playboys. Soon, his band was given the opportunity to record several Strait pen singles including that don't change the way I feel about you, and I can't go on dying like this for the Houston-based D label. However, the songs never achieved wide recognition, and Strait continued to manage his family cattle ranch during the day in order to make some extra cash. While he continued to play with his band, without any real connections to the music industry, Strait became friends with a Woolsey, who operated one of the bars in which the Ace in the whole band played, and who had previously worked for the major label MCA records. Woolsey convinced some of his music row, Nashville, TN, connections to come to Texas and to listen to Strait and his band play. Impressed with the performance, but concerned that they couldn't market the western swing sound that the band featured, they left without a deal. After several unsuccessful trips to Nashville in search of a record deal in which Strait was turned down by every label in town, he considered giving up music altogether. He was offered a job designing cattle pens and decided to take it. He gave the band notice that he was leaving, but after a discussion with his wife, she convinced him to give music one more year. Not long afterward, MCA signed Strait to a recording contract in February 1981. The initial deal was for one song. If the single did well, the label would then consider doing an album.The Ace in the whole band remained with Strait, performing as the backup and touring band for the now solo act. Music career 1980s In the spring of 1981, Strait released his first single for MCA records, entitled Unlound, which climbed to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart that year, and was included on his debut album Strait Country. The record featured two more singles including Down and Out, a No. 16 hit for Strait, and if you're thinking you want a stranger, there's one coming home, which reached No. 3 early in 1982, sparking a string of top ten hits that ran well into the 1990s Strait country was hailed by critics as a traditionalist breakthrough that broke the trend of pop-influenced country prevalent at the time.The year 1982 also saw the release of Strait's second album, the critically acclaimed. Strait from the Heart, which featured the first No. 1 single of his career, Fool-hearted Memory, and the top 5 Amarillo by Morning, regarded by many as one of the greatest country songs of all time. In 1983, Strait made his first appearance at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo when the headlining star, Eddie Rabbit, came down sick with the flu. Performing at that Rodeo has since become a mainstay throughout his career, making more than 20 appearances at the Rodeo, and playing to a total of more than 1 million fans. Strait recorded 17 subsequent No. 1s in the decade, including a string of 5 that lasted from 1983-84 from his next two albums Right or Wrong, his first No. 1 album and the CMA award-winning does Fort Worth ever cross your mind. The next year, he won the CMA award for top male vocalist, and released his first greatest hits compilation, which featured songs from his first three albums. Also in 1985, Strait released Something Special, the third straight No. 1 album of his career, featuring the No. 1 single The Chair.In 1986, Strait repeated as the CMA vocalist of the year and released his fourth No. 1 album No. 7. Strait and his family were struck with tragedy when his 13-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was killed in a one-car non-alcohol related accident. She was riding in a Ford Mustang driven by Gregory Wilson Allen, 18, of Staples, Texas. He was subsequently charged with a class A misdemeanor for vehicular homicide. Mike Cox, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, said the responding trooper determined the cause of accident to be excessive speed and that the car did not negotiate the turn properly. Jennifer was riding in the front passenger's seat and none of the four occupants were wearing seat belts at the time.When the vehicle flipped over onto its passenger's side, Jennifer was partially ejected, causing her to be dead upon impact. But he incident caused Strait to greatly limit his contact with the media. He stopped doing interviews for many years after the accident as he and his family did not wish to discuss Jennifer's death. His grief did not hinder his performance, however, or his output, as he went on to release 11 straight No. 1 hits, starting with nobody in his right mind would have left her in 1986 and ending with Ace in the Hole in 1989. But the singles spanned four albums, including No. 7 Ocean Front Property in 1987, If You Ain't Lovin' You Ain't Livin' in 1988 and 1989's Beyond the Blue Neon, all of which reached the No. 1 spot on country album charts. Ocean Front Property was the first country album to ever debut at No. 1 on the charts by any artist. The streak included such songs as Ocean Front Property, All My Exes Live in Texas, Famous Last Words of a Fool and Baby Blue. Strait finished the decade by winning the CMA Entertainer of the Year award in 1989. A year later, he won the award again. 1990s Strait began the decade with the release of his 10th studio album, Livin' It Up, which featured two No. 1 hits including Love Without End, Amen, his first multi-week hit, and I've Come to Expect It from You. Both songs remained No. 1 for five weeks in 1990. Chill of an Early Fall shortly followed in 1991, and received positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly noted that the album marked a shift for Strait from repeating himself in his previous works to producing different material.It produced the No. 1s if I know me and you know me better than that, but ended his streak of 31 Strait Top 10 hits with the cover of Love Sick Blues, which peaked at No. 24. The record blocked his run of eight top charting albums with its peak of No. 4. In the spring of 1992, Holding My Own was released. It did not produce any No. 1s but did include two top five songs including So Much Like My Dad. Later in 1992, Strait played the main character in the movie Pure Country, and released the film Soundtrack. It was his most successful studio album, producing such hits as Heartland, I Cross My Heart, and When Did You Stop Loving Me?, and peaked at No. 1 and No. 6 respectively on the country and Billboard 200 album charts. The success continued with his next album, Easy Come, Easy Go in 1993, which reached the top five on the Billboard 200 and featured the hits I'd like to have that one back, The Man in Love with You, and the No. 1 title track. His next four albums, including Lead On in 1994, Blue Clear Sky in 1996, Carrying Your Love with Me in 1997, and 1998's One Step at a Time, all charted at No. 1, with Blue Clear Sky claiming the spot on its debut week, and Carrying Your Love with Me peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the first time in Strait's career. This series of albums produced eight No. 1 singles for Strait, including You Can't Make a Heart Love Somebody, Carried Away, One Night at a Time, and I Just Want to Dance with You. During this period, Strait also released a four-disc box set career retrospective, Straight Out of the Box, in 1995, which became the second best-selling box set ever with shipments of 8 million in the United States. He also was named as the CMA's top male vocalist in 1997 and 1998.Starting in 97, and continuing until the first year of the 21st century, Strait headlined the George Strait Country Music Festival, which included artists such as Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, and others. In an effort to introduce these acts to as many fans as possible, the festival promised not to visit any market more than twice. It played only a small number of dates, usually no more than 20 a year, but still managed to be the ninth biggest grossing tour of 1998. In 2009, the George Strait Country Music Festival was voted the most important tour in the history of country music and the best-selling country music tour in the 90s. Strait completed the decade with the album Always Never the Same in 1999, which peaked at number two on country charts and matched the crossover success of Pure Country by reaching number six on the Billboard 200. The record produced the hits What Do You Say to That, meanwhile, and the number one write this down. Reviews of the album's material were generally moderate, but Entertainment Weekly observed that at this point in his career, Strait could record the most lightweight material and make it soar on the radio with his grace.All In All, Strait scored 17 number one hits on the Billboard Country Airplay charts in the decade, and carried his successes into the next century. 2000–present Strait released a self-named album in 2000, which despite a number one and number seven showing on the country and Billboard 200 album charts, produced no number one singles, and was the first studio album of his career to not be certified platinum. The singles go on and if you can do anything else were released from the record, with both peaking in the top five. In May 2001, The Road Less Traveled was released. Reviews for the album were mostly positive, Rolling Stone described it as sticking to the formula but adds a few twists that make it superior to his last few releases. It featured vocal processing, and was considered by some critics as an experimental album. Three singles were released from it, two of which reached number one, including She'll Leave You with a Smile, his fiftieth on combined charts and Living and Living Well, both of which reached the top 30 of Billboard Hot 100, with the former peaking at number 23, Strait's highest rank on the chart. The single run peaked at number two and reached number 34 on the Billboard 100. Strait released two records in 2003. For the last time, Live from the Astrodome was a recording of the last Houston livestock show and rodeo to take place in the Astrodome. The performance itself, set the record for paid attendance at the venue, with 68,266 people, breaking Latin superstar Selena's previous record of approximately 67,000 in 1995. His next album, Honkai Tonkville was described as a fiery set of hard country, and was praised for its mixture of the old Strait with his modern, superstar self. It didn't produce any no-one-s for Strait but included the hits Cowboys Like Us and a cover of Bruce Robison's Desperately. His 2004 performance at Reliant Stadium set a new rodeo attendance record, with 68,679 spectators. That year he issued a greatest hits package built as 50 number ones, chronicling the number one hits of his career from all charts, starting with fool-hearted memory and ending with She'll Leave You with a Smile. A new track, I Hate Everything, was also included, and became his 51st overall number one in 2004. The next year, somewhere down in Texas arrived, which produced the hit You'll Be There, marking Strait's first appearance on the adult contemporary chart. The next year, he embarked on a tour that included only 18 performances but grossed over $15 million. He attributed this success to the fact that he and his band are musically very tight, have a large pool of songs to draw from, and perform those songs very similarly to how they sound on their albums. On October 3, 2006, Strait marked his 30th year in the music industry with the release of a new album titled It Just Comes Natural. The album was recorded in Key West, FLA and Jimmy Buffett's Shrimp Boat Sound Studio, said to be a better recording location due to lack of allergy flare ups during recording process, which was also the recording location of Troubiter. It featured 15 new songs. Strait's longtime friend and songwriter, Dean Dylan Cio wrote two of the songs on the album. It received generally positive reviews from critics. People, in their four-star review, remarked that if ever there was a natural in country music, it's Strait, while USA Today raved that he continues to make such consistent quality look easy. The first single from the album, Give It Away reached No. 1, making one of its CO-writers, country legend whispering Bill Anderson, the first songwriter to have a No. 1 hit in five different decades. The title track, It Just Comes Natural became his 42nd Billboard No. 1. In 2007, RAPT reached No. 1 on the media-base 247 country music charts, giving Strait his 55th overall No. 1 single. From January through April of that year, Strait headlined a 23-date arena tour with country music legend Ronnie Millsap and then newcomer Taylor Swift. He released a new album titled Troubiter on April 1, 2008. The CD contained 12 tracks, including a duet with Patti Loveless and another with longtime songwriter Dean Dylan. The lead single from the album, I Saw God Today, debuted at No. 19 on the radio and records and Billboard charts. It is the highest debut ever for a single from Strait and the fourth highest debut for a song in country music history. Troubiter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts, selling over 160,000 copies in its first week of release. River of Love the third single from the album became his 57th No. 1 song in 2009. In April 2009, Strait was honored by the Academy of Country Music with the Artist of the Decade Award, which was presented to Strait by the previous ACM artist of the decade, Garth Brooks. In June of that year he headlined the first event at the New Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Strait's single Living for the Night was released on May 28, 2009, and was written by Strait, his son Bubba, and Dean Dylan. The song was the lead single from his album Twang, released on August 11, 2009. Twang was certified gold for selling over 500,000 copies. In 2010, Billboard ranked Strait No. 1 in the top 25 country artists of the past 25 years. On September 6, 2011, Strait released the album, Here for a Good Time, which yielded two No. 1 singles Here for a Good Time and Loves Gonna Make It Alright bringing Strait's No. 1 singles total to 59. The album's third single, Drinkin' Man, was less successful, peaking at No. 37. In October 2012, Strait released the single Give It All We Got Tonight which was included on his album Love Is Everything, released on May 14, 2013. The song initiated a 60 for 60 movement by Strait's label, to make the song his 60th No. 1 single on all country charts while he was still 60 years old.The song reached the top of the media-based charts in May 2013. The album's next single I believe reached No. 50 on the U.S. Country Airplay Chart, making it Strait's first single to miss the top 40. Strait won the 2013 CMA Entertainer of the Year award. In November 2013, Billboard Magazine presented Strait with its Legend of Live Honor during the 10th Annual Billboard Touring Awards Ceremony.The award honors the concert industry's top artist based on Billboard's box's core chart and box office performance.Strait is the first country artist to receive Billboard magazine's highest touring accolade.On April 19, 2015, Strait made a guest appearance at the 2015 ACM Awards. He performed All My Exes Lives in Texas and his new single Let It. GO! In 2016, Strait was selected as one of 30 artists to perform on Forever Country, a mash-up track of Take Me Home, Country Roads, On the Road Again and I Will Always Love You which celebrates 50 years of the CMA Awards. The Cowboy Rides Away Tour. On September 26, 2012, Strait announced that he was retiring from touring, and that his Cowboy Rides Away Tour would be his last dot-its for both arenas and stadiums on the Cowboy Rides Away Tour sold out in a matter of hours. The tour started on January 18, 2013 in Lubbock, Texas and is divided into two legs, 21 concerts in 2013 and 26 concerts in 2014, for a total of 47 concerts. The tour ended in Arlington, Texas on June 7, 2014.Strait was supported on the tour by his longtime 11-member touring group, The Ace in the Hole Band. For the 2013 leg, Martina McBride was the opening performer. On January 9, 2014, Strait initiated the second leg of the tour, which featured the opening performers Jason Aldeen, Eric Church, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Vince Gill, Cheryl Crowe, Lee-Anne Wellmack, Merle Haggard, Chris Young, Ronnie Dunn, Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, and A Sleep At The Wheel.Many of these performers gathered together for the tour's final concert in Arlington, Texas, before 104,793 fans the largest attendance at a single show concert in the United States.The concert also set a record for the largest gross at a single show country concert, $18,194,374. A live album recorded from the final concert in Arlington titled The Cowboy Rides Away, live from a town stadium was released on September 16, 2014, with the DVD CDs of the concert being released on November 10, 2014, with Walmart exclusively releasing a deluxe edition including two CDs as well. This deluxe DVD is the entire three-plus hour concert and the accompanying two CDs have 28 of the 40 songs sung that night.On August 29, 2014, the country music television channel broadcast a two-hour concert special of the event titled George Strait, The Cowboy Rides Away.The CMT concert special had one to 14 hours of music from the three-plus hour concert, and interviews. Personal Life Strait married his high school sweetheart, Norma, in December 1971. Ten years later, George and Norma's son, George Strait, Jr., known as Bubba, was born. Their daughter Jennifer was killed in an automobile accident in San Marcos on June 25, 1986, at the age of 13. The family set up the Jennifer Lynn Strait Foundation, which donates money to children's charities in the San Antonio area.Bubba, who is a graduate of Texas on Dem in College Station, is pursuing a career as a professional rodeo Cowboys Association, PRCA, team roping competitor.Strait was able to watch his son compete at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2006 shortly before taking the stage for his own performance. Strait enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing, playing golf and riding motorcycles. Along with his son, he is a member of the PRCA and partners in team roping competitions. George and his elder brother John Jr., known as Buddy, hosted the annual George Strait team roping classic, in which they competed against some of the best team ropers in the world. Strait has also said that he very seldom picks up a guitar when not in the studio or touring. He and his wife live in northwest San Antonio in a master-planned community known as the Dominion, as well as on a ranch near Catoola in La Salle County between San Antonio and Laredo. Strait is a fan of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and can be seen courtside at many of the Spurs home basketball games. Since 2010, Strait has served as spokesman for the Wrangler National Patriot Program, a campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for America's wounded and fallen military veterans and their families.Strait states, I've been a part of the Wrangler family for a long time, when they came to me with the idea for supporting fallen and wounded American veterans and their families, I knew I wanted to get involved. In February 2012, Strait became a grandfather, as his son George Strait, Jr. and his wife, Tamara, had their first child, a son. According to reports, the infant was named George H. Strait, III, as a tribute to his famous grandfather.The grandson is known as Harvey, from his common middle name shared with his father and grandfather, but is also called Bubba. Strait owns a Gulfstream 450 and carries a personal registration N518GS. His personal aircraft is housed at the Landmark Aviation Facility in San Antonio.Strait was raised in the Baptist Church. He is believed to be a Republican but does not discuss political issues in public. Honours and Awards Strait holds the record for most number one albums and singles, gold albums, platinum albums and multi-platinum in the history of country music, and is 11th in the most number one albums in all other genres. Strait is third only to Elvis Presley and The Beatles with the most gold and platinum albums in the history of music.Strait has been certified as the 12th best-selling artist in American history, with career record sales of 70 million. Strait has recorded the most number one songs and top five songs in the history of music of any kind, and is the only artist in the history of music of any kind to have a top ten hit every year for 30 years. He is also second all-time in top ten hits in the history of music, currently five away from breaking the all-time record held by Eddie Arnold who had 92 in his historic career. Strait has also won 22 CMA awards, including consecutive Entertainer of the Year honours in 1989 and 1990, and also just recently won that same honour in 2013, and is the only artist to win the top honour in three different decades, and holds the career record for CMA nominations, as a whole, and the most consecutively of all time. As of 2009 he holds the record for the most CMA awards. Strait also holds those same records for wins and nominations for the ACM awards. Strait was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006, performing his then-latest number one hit Give It Away right before accepting his replica Hall of Fame plaque at the 40th CMA awards. He was only the second artist, after Eddie Arnold in 1966, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame while still actively recording and producing chart-topping hits and albums. As of June 8, 2010, Strait was named the top country music artist of the past 25 years according to Billboard magazine. In October 2008, the Academy of Country Music Awards named Strait their artist of the decade for the 20 hundreds. He was presented the award by the previous winner Garth Brooks. Past winners of the award are Marty Robbins, 1960s, Loretta Lynn, 1970s, Alabama, 1980s, and Garth Brooks, 1990s, and with the win of the Entertainer of the Year award in 2013 he is the only artist to ever win the Entertainer of the Year in three different decades and also was the oldest winner. The win is currently the longest span between wins for that award as well. Strait is also tied with Merle Haggard for the most male vocalist of the year awards. On June 1, 2013, Strait appeared in the Alamo Dome, in San Antonio, Texas, before 70,000 fans in the last concert of the first half of his two-year farewell tour. Governor Rick Perry, who was in attendance with First Lady Anita Thigpen Perry, announced that hence 4th May 18, Strait's birthday, would be George Strait Day in Texas.