George Strait

George Strait

George Strait was born May 18, 1952, in Poteet, Texas and was raised in Pearsall, Texas. When his father took over the family ranch, he developed an interest in farming. Strait heard country music throughout his youth but the record that cemented his love was Merle Haggard's A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (Or, My Salute To Bob Wills).

Strait dropped out of college to elope with his girlfriend, Norma, and then enlisted in the US Army. While there, he began playing country music. While at university studying agriculture, he founded the Ace In The Hole band. In 1976, he briefly recorded for Pappy Daily's D Records in Houston, one title being "That Don't Change The Way I Feel About You". Starting in 1977, Strait made trips to Nashville, but he was too shy to do himself justice. Disillusioned, he considered a return to Texas but his wife urged him to keep trying. A club owner he had worked for, Erv Woolsey, was working for MCA Records; he signed him to the label and then became his manager.

In 1981, Strait's first single, "Unwound", made number 6 in the country charts. After two further hits, "Fool Hearted Memory", from The Soldier, a movie in which he had a cameo role, went to number 1. Strait was unsure about the recitation on "You Look So Good In Love", but it was another chart-topper and led to him calling a racehorse Looks Good In Love. Strait's run of 18 country number 1 hits also included "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?" (1985), "Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her" (1986), "Am I Blue" (1987), "Famous Last Words Of A Fool" (1988) and "Baby's Gotten Good At Goodbye" (1989). Strait was a throwback to the 50s honky-tonk sound of country music. He used twin fiddles and steel guitar and his strong, warm delivery was similar to that of Haggard and Lefty Frizzell. He made no secret of his influences, recording a fine tribute to Frizzell, "Lefty's Gone". Strait suffered a personal tragedy when his daughter, Jennifer, died in a car accident in 1986. Managing to compose himself, Ocean Front Property became the first album to enter Billboard's country music chart at number 1, and it included another classic single, "All My Ex's Live In Texas", which also demonstrated his love of western swing. The white-Stetson-ed Strait, who also manages to run a large farm, became one of the top concert attractions, winning many awards from the CMA, but it was only in 1989 that he became their Entertainer Of The Year.

After the impressive Chill Of An Early Fall, Strait enjoyed a major commercial success with a starring role in the movie Pure Country. The movie's soundtrack has sold quintuple platinum. The magnificent box set Strait Out Of The Box demonstrates how consistent he has been over the years, and is the best selling country box set of all time. Clear Blue Sky, released in 1996, made its debut at number 1 on the Billboard country chart. Carrying Your Love With Me, put Strait up there with the leading male country artists of the 90s - even though the creases on his jeans are dangerously straight.

George has won 15 CMA awards over his career, the last being in 2000, he holds the all time record for CMA nominations at 66, and ranks #3, behind Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard respectively, in the number of #1 hits by a solo country artist.

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