George Strait Caricature

George Strait Caricature, age 23, shown at Gruene Hall, where he and his band, the Ace In The Hole Band got their start, Gruene, Texas, 1975.

George 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 neotraditionalist 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 2000s, 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.

By 2009, he broke Conway Twitty’s previous record for the most number-one hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart when his 44 number one singles surpassed Twitty’s 40. Counting all music charts, Strait has amassed a total of 60 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.

His concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas in June 2014 drew 104,793 people, marking a new record for largest indoor concert in North America.

Strait has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the RIAA, Strait is the 12th best-selling album recording artist in the United States overall. Strait is third only to Elvis Presley and The Beatles with the most gold and platinum albums in the history of music.

Partial list of hits: “Amarillo By Morning”, “I Cross My Heart”, “You Look So Good In Love”, “Ocean Front Property”, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas”, “Carrying Your Love With Me”, “Check Yes Or No”, “Write This Down”, “Blue Clear Sky” and “I Saw God Today” to name a few.

Strait’s maternal grandmother was Mattie Louise Gise (née Strait), through whom he is a cousin of Jeff Bezos, founder, chairman, and CEO of Amazon.com, the world’s largest online shopping retailer.