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He has been nominated for more CMA and ACM awards and has more wins in both categories than any other artist. Learn 50 facts you missed about George Strait.
1. George Harvey Strait 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.
2. Strait's success began when his first single "Unwound" was a hit in 1981.
3. During the 1980s, seven of his albums reached number one on the country charts.
4. 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.
5. Strait was named CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 2013, and ACM Entertainer of the Year in 1990 and 2014.
6. He has been nominated for more CMA and ACM awards and has more wins in both categories than any other artist.
7. In 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.
8. 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.
9. Strait has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.
10. His certifications from the RIAA include 13 multi-platinum, 33 platinum, and 38 gold albums.
11. His best-selling album is Pure Country (1992), which sold 6 million (6× platinum).
12. His highest certified album is Strait Out of the Box (1995), which sold 2 million copies (8× Platinum due to being a box set with four CDs).
13. According to the RIAA, Strait is the 12th best-selling album recording artist in the United States overall.
14. George Harvey Strait was born on May 18, 1952, in Poteet, in Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, Texas, to John Byron Strait, Sr., and Doris Couser.
15. He grew up in Pearsall, in Frio County, where his father was a junior high school mathematics teacher and the owner of a 2,000-acre cattle ranch outside of Big Wells, Texas.
16. When George was in the fourth grade, his father and mother were divorced, and his mother moved away with his sister, Pency.
17. George and his brother John, Jr., or "Buddy", were raised by their father.
18. Strait began his musical interest while attending Pearsall High School, where he played in a rock and roll garage band.
19. 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".
20. 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.
21. Strait did not tune to the country music radio often as a youth, usually listening to the news and the farmer's report.
22. His introduction to country music came mostly by way of live performances, which, according to Strait, could be heard in every town in Texas.
23. He eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma. The couple initially married in Mexico on December 4, 1971.
24. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Army.
25. 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".
26. On October 6, 1972, while still in Hawaii, George and Norma had their first child, Jenifer.
27. After Strait was honorably discharged from the Army in 1975, he enrolled at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos and graduated with a degree in agriculture.
28. During his college years, he joined the country band Stoney Ridge, answering a flyer the band posted around campus looking for a new vocalist.
29. Strait renamed the group the Ace in the Hole 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.
30. Soon, his band was given the opportunity to record several Strait-penned 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.
31. He was offered a job designing cattle pens and decided to take it.
32. 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.
33. Not long afterward, MCA signed Strait to a recording contract in February 1981.
34. In 1981, George and Norma's son, George Strait, Jr., known as "Bubba", was born.
35. Their daughter Jenifer (born October 6, 1972) was killed in an automobile accident in San Marcos on June 25, 1986, at the age of 13. The family set up the Jenifer Lynn Strait Foundation, which donates money to children's charities in the San Antonio area.
36. Bubba, who is a graduate of Texas A&M in College Station, is pursuing a career as a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) team roping competitor.
37. 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.
38. Strait enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing, playing golf, and riding motorcycles.
39. Along with his son, he is a member of the PRCA and partners in team roping competitions.
40. 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.
41. Strait has also said that he very seldom picks up a guitar when not in the studio or touring.
42. He and his wife live in northwest San Antonio, as well as on a ranch near Cotulla in La Salle County between San Antonio and Laredo.
43. Strait is a fan of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and can be seen court-side at many of the Spurs' home basketball games.
44. 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.
45. In February 2012, Strait became a grandfather, as his son George Strait, Jr., and his wife, Norma, had their first child, a son.
46. According to reports, the infant was named George H. Strait, III, as a tribute to his famous grandfather.
47. The grandson is known as Harvey, from his common middle name shared with his father and grandfather.
48. George Strait owns a Bombardier Challenger 300 jet, MSN 20132, and carries a personal registration N518GS.
49. Strait was raised in the Baptist Church.
50. 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 thirty years.
Source: georgestrait.com, Wikipedia.org
