1952–present
Who Is George Strait?
Singer George Strait is one of the best-selling country artists of all time, with 60 chart-topping songs and 31 platinum- or multiplatinum-certified albums. He began performing in a band while serving in the U.S. Army. Strait landed a recording contract in the 1980s with MCA records and produced numerous hit albums throughout the next three decades. Known for staying true to traditional country sound, he has won one Grammy and multiple others awards as he complied one of the most commercially successful boxed sets in music history.
Quick Facts
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 raised on a family-owned farm in nearby Pearsall.
Strait studied agriculture at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) before joining the U.S. Army. While stationed in Hawaii, he began singing in the Army-sponsored band called Rambling Country. After returning to Texas, he put together his own band, Ace in the Hole, which gained a rather impressive local following.
Songs, Albums, and Awards
After years of futile attempts at a record contract, Strait signed a solo contract with MCA Records in 1981. Featuring the hit single “Unwound,” his first album, Strait Country (1981), was influential in increasing the radio play of more traditional, less pop-influenced country music. Strait went on to produce a series of No. 1 albums over the course of 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. In 1989, Strait was named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year, a feat he repeated in 1990 and 2013.
In 1992, Strait made his motion picture acting debut in Pure Country and recorded a slew of hit songs for the movie’s soundtrack: “I Cross My Heart,” “Heartland,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” and “The King of Broken Hearts.” In 1995, Strait released the four-disc career retrospective titled Strait Out of the Box, which had phenomenal sales that exceeded 5 million copies. This made Strait Out of the Box the best-selling boxed set in country music history. Today, it has sold more than 8 million copies in the United States alone.
In the late 1990s, Strait released a handful of noteworthy albums, including Blue Clear Sky (1996), Carrying Your Love With Me (1997), and One Step At a Time (1998). Released in September 2000, his self-titled album yielded the hit singles “Go On,” “If It’s Gonna Rain,” and “She Took the Wind From His Sails.”
As the new millennium began, Strait remained a strong draw for country music fans. Two tracks from The Road Less Traveled (2001)—“She’ll Leave You with a Smile” and “Living and Living Well”—reached the No. 1 spot on the country charts and the entire album went platinum. In 2003, Honkytonkville featured such hits as “Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa” and “Cowboys Like Us.” That same year, Strait received the National Medal of the Arts from President George W. Bush.
Somewhere Down in Texas (2005) was another big seller driven in part by the success of such singles as “You’ll Be There” and “She Let Herself Go.” “Good News, Bad News,” a duet with Lee Ann Womack also featured on the album, won the CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year in 2005. Next came It Just Comes Natural (2006). Its several chart-toppers included the title track and “Give It Away.” Strait won two CMA Awards for It Just Comes Natural and was inducted into the CMA’s Hall of Fame.
Strait continued to be a popular force in country music with 2008’s Troubadour, which debuted at the top of the country album charts. The recording’s first single, “I Saw God Today,” also hit No. 1 on the country charts. In 2009, Strait accepted his only Grammy Award to date when Troubadour was named Best Country Album. Also that year, he landed the Artist of the Decade Award from the Academy of Country Music (ACM).
The singer released four collections from 2011 through 2019—Here for a Good Time, Love Is Everything, Cold Beer Conversation, and Honky Tonk Time Machine—that reached No. 1 on the country album charts. This stretch also saw him accept his second ACM Award for Entertainer of the Year; his 2013 title followed his previous award for 1989.
In 2014, Strait went on what was then believed to be his last tour called The Cowboy Rides Away. He gave his final concert performance in Dallas that June. More than 100,000 fans crowded AT&T Stadium for the show. However, Strait ended his long performance hiatus in 2023 by embarking on a six-stadium tour with Chris Stapleton and the band Little Big Town. The group added nine additional dates in 2024.
In September 2024, Strait released his 31st studio album, Cowboys and Dreamers, which featured the single “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” with Stapleton. Two months later, Strait was chosen to receive the CMA’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 58th CMA Awards.
Wife and Children
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.
Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Strait has amassed a total fortune of around $300 million as of August 2024.
Quotes
- Life’s not the breath you take, but the moments that take your breath away.
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