BORN: May 18, 1952, Pearsall, TX
The Fourth Annual George Strait Country Music Festival ended its four month run in two final shows in Texas. The San Antonio show, as well as the Dallas show, were missing numerous fans (as in thousands) due to horrific weather in Southeast Texas. Parts of Houston experienced fourteen feet of water in thousands of homes. The two interstate freeways leading to San Antonio and Dallas, out of Houston, were blocked off with high water and debris.
But tour officials expect this year's revenues to be slightly above last year's revenues of ten million dollars. The tour had kicked off in Tampa, Florida on March 24th. During that show, sunny skies and warm weather made the event seem like a Spring-breakout party. Fans were already excited for days and without a doubt, some even staked out their vantage points for the concert early on. In its previous three years, the tour has been one of the top grossing concerts in the music biz, playing to almost 2.5 million people and garnering just over 29 million dollars in sales. The average audience iaveraged 45,000 people, larger than many cities. During the show's run for the past three years, it has garnered almost $100,000,000.
To bring in the fans, the tour had managed to feature some of the top performers in the country music industry. This year, superstar Alan Jackson, multi-platinum group Lonestar, Grammy Award winning Lee Ann Womack, CMA Award winner Brad Paisley, 8-time Grammy Winner Asleep at the Wheel, and the award winning Sara Evans were part of the stunning line up of performers.
Bruce Hinton, the head of MCA Records, said "George is an icon in our business and his festival stadium shows have become the annual event for country music. The fans know they are guaranteed fabulous music, and a quality experience when it's a George Strait event."
That's almost an understatement. The fans know all that and more. Not only do they throng to the concert, they also attend the almost fair atmosphere of the areas immediately surrounding each concert site. Dubbed "Straitland" by fans, it's a family oriented area where fans can meet, mingle, and have fun before and after the concert. Because of this type of fair atmosphere, it is a draw almost as popular as the performers.
The schedule for the tour, and its sixteen stops, is as follows:
Tampa, Florida on March 24th at the James Stadium. On March 25th the tour heads to Miami, Florida at the Pro Player Stadium. On March 31st it goes to Phoenix Arizona at the Sun Devil Stadium. April 1st lands it in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. April 7th it moves on to New Orleans, Louisiana at the Superdome. April 8th the tour moves to Little Rock, Arkansas at the War Memorial Stadium. On April 21st it's at Columbia, South Carolina at the Williams Brice Stadium. April 22nd has it at Atlanta, Georgia at the Turner Field. On May 12th it's at Kansas City, Missouri at the TWA Dome. On May 19th it moves on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Miller Park. On May 20th it's at Minneapolis, MN at the Metrodome. On May 26th it goes on to Joliet, IL at the Route 66 Raceway. May 27th has it at Louisville, Kentucky at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. On June 9th, George is back in Texas in San Antonio at the Alamodome. On June 10th they go off to Dallas at the Texas Stadium in Irvine.
Please note all ticket sales are to be announced, so please keep in touch here or with your ticket agent or at www.georgestrait.com for more details.
As a matter of fact, here's more info on George so that you can get even more familiar with him in case he singles you out in the audience with one of his quips:
With his newest release of George Strait, it seems hard to imagine that George Strait's first hit was twenty years ago with the single, "Unwound" back in 1981. Since then, George has been laying down the law as far as the definition of country music goes. And he has a trophy room full of awards to prove it. According to Billboard Magazine, George is the most played country music artist of all time, and is the second most played artist on all charts next to Mariah Carey. His previous biggest claim to fame is with his album Ocean Front Property, which made music history in being the only album ever to debut at the number one spot. As a matter of fact, every single one of his albums have either gone gold, platinum or multiplatinum in sales, and he has had 24 of them.
George was born on May 18, 1952 in Pearsall, Texas. He served in the military for a while in Hawaii, married his wife, Norma, there at the age of 20, and formed a band while in the military. He originally played for his military buddies and in clubs, and later after his discharge he began playing in clubs in and around Texas and the Southwest. He eventually received an agriculture degree in college. Scouts for MCA records discovered him while he was performing in Texas, and the rest is history. He is still loyal to MCA and MCA is still loyal to him.
George Strait is a very private person. He lives on his extensive working ranch in south central Texas with his wife and son, George Jr., also known an "Bubba". In 1999 MCA record executives gave him a full blooded Australian Blueheeler herding dog, and George named him Banderra. This gift replaced a previous dog that George owned, but lost, in a well publicized dog search. The dog was never located.
He does give interviews occasionally, but these are arranged well in advance. One possible oversight about his career is that he has not been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as have many other Texas country music stars.
The George Strait Country Music Tour, which has been an annual event for the past several years, is the biggest selling concert in country music. His consistent style, concentrated in classic country music, is probably the main reason he remains at the top of the helm in country.
His Latest Greatest Straitest Hits, documents Strait's hold on the top of the country scene. Even though he rarely gives interviews, he holds that claim with tenacity, reassuring his fans from year to year with releases of box sets and singles. "The Best Day" seems to be the best of the lead in singles, as do of course all the previous released singles such as "Adalida," "Blue Clear Sky," "You Can't Make A Heart Love Somebody," "True," "and of course "Round About Way."
The fifteen hit cd is certain to go the same way as Out of the Box. It sold off the shelves in its very first day.
