George Strait - the Legend

George Harvey Strait was born May 18, 1952. He grew up in Pearsall, Texas, which is south of San Antonio. After his parents divorced when George was in third grade, his mom and sister left the family home and George and his brother, John "Buddy", lived with their father, who was a junior high school math teacher. John, Buddy and their father spent a lot of weekends and summers working at the family's 2,000 acre cattle ranch near Big Wells, Texas.

While attending Pearsall High School, George played with a rock band, but this was short-lived as he preferred country music in the style of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and George Jones and wanted to play the type of music that he so loved.

After high school graduation in the late 1960's, George enrolled in Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas and began agricultural studies. After a short time in college, he dropped out of school and eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma. George and Norma were initially married in Mexico, but repeated their vows shortly thereafter in Texas.

In 1971, George Strait enlisted in the Army. He was stationed in Hawaii, where he began playing country music with an Army-sponsored band called Rambling Country. The band played off base some under the name of Santee.

Norma Strait gave birth to their first child, Jennifer, in Hawaii on October 6, 1972.

In 1975, George was discharged from the Army and decided it was time to return to school to complete his agriculture degree. While attending college, Strait was the lead singer for the Ace in the Hole Band. The band signed a deal with an independent record company under the label D in the late 1970's, but they were not very successful.

George Strait met Erv Woolsey in 1979, who had previously worked for MCA Records. Erv arranged for several MCA executives to come and hear Strait play in Texas and they signed him to a record deal in 1980. "Unwound" was released early in 1981 and quickly made it into the top ten.

In 1981, the Strait's second child, George Jr., was born.

In the 1980's, George Strait's music topped the charts 18 times with such hits as "Fool-Hearted Memory" in 1982, "The Chair" and "All My Exes Live In Texas". In 1985, Strait won the CMA Male Vocalist Award and the Album of the Year award for "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind".

Tragically, in 1986 the Strait's 13-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was killed in an automobile accident.

George Strait went on to win the CMA Entertainer of the Year award in 1989 and 1990.

George decided to try his hand at acting in 1992 with the lead role in the movie "Pure Country". The music soundtrack from the movie scored Strait a number of hits, including his phenomenal "I Cross My Heart".

Country music sounds changed quite a bit over the 1990's and incorporated more of a pop/rock sound; however, George Strait's popularity was never diminished. He took on a smoother sound, but his music did not change a lot.

"Strait Out of the Box" was a four-CD boxed set released in 1995 which sold 8 million copies, elevating it to the second best-selling box set of all time. George released his Blue Clear Sky album in 1996, which ranked number one on country charts and number seven on the pop charts on its debut. George Strait had 17 number one hits during the 1990's, including "I Just Want to Dance With You" and "Write This Down".

In 2004, George Strait released "50 Number Ones", which included his new song "I Hate Everything". This song became Strait's 51^st number one song - which I'm sure he didn't hate.

On November 6, 2006, George Strait was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Strait has had 13 multi-platinum, 32 platinum and 35 gold albums, ranking him third behind Elvis and The Beatles.

George Strait and his brother, Buddy, have hosted the annual George Strait Team Roping Classic where they have competed against world class team ropers. Buddy was found dead on April 10, 2009 in a hotel room in San Antonio. It appeared the 58-year-old John "Buddy" Strait had died of natural causes, but an autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause.

George Strait to date has had magnificent achievements and he is still going strong at the young age of 56. He and his wife, Norma, live in the wealthy San Antonio gated community of Dominion and own a ranch near Cotulla, Texas, southwest of San Antonio. Their son, Bubba, graduated from Texas A&M University is a pursuing a career in PRCA team roping.

Sources:

"George Strait : Biography", CMT.

"Artist Biography: George Strait", Billboard.

"George Strait Biography - Biography of Country Music Legend George Strait.", About.

"George Strait", Wikipedia.