George Strait has long been considered the touchstone for traditional, ‘real’ country music. With his smooth, honeyed drawl, the rural Texas imagery that colours all his albums and, of course, his trademark Stetson, George Strait was - quite literally - country before country was cool.

He emerged on Music Row wearing Wranglers and cowboy boots, and refused to change his sound to fit the cookie-cutter mould demanded in Nashville, and was initially dismissed by many as an old-fashioned ‘hat act’.

It was this distinctive, neo-traditional style that set Strait’s debut 1981 album, Strait Country, apart. Although Strait Country and its infectious, honky-tonkin’ hit single, ‘Unwound’, put the Texan on the map, it was his follow-up record, Strait from the Heart, that really made him a point of interest.

Aside from consolidating Strait’s amusing penchant for titular wordplay, Strait from the Heart produced a slew of now-iconic hits, including ‘Fool Hearted Memory’, ‘A Fire I Can’t Put Out’, ‘Marina Del Rey’ and ‘Amarillo By Morning’.

Since then, George Strait has amassed a staggering 60 No. 1 singles, including the legendary, genre-defining ‘All My Exes Live in Texas’ in 1987, along with 33 albums that have either gone Platinum or multi-Platinum.

George Strait is also the only artist across any genre in history to have secured a Top 10 hit every single year for more than three decades. It’s no wonder, therefore, that George Strait is almost unanimously known by fans and fellow artists alike as the ‘King of Country’.

Although Strait is synonymous with 90s country, which is receiving a huge resurgence in popularity, the quality of his more recent albums has ensured he remains a regular feature on the country charts, with ‘Here for a Good Time‘, ‘Love’s Gonna Make It Alright’ and ‘Give It All We Got Tonight’ all hitting No. 1 in the 2010s.

In 2014, George Strait set a new indoor concert attendance record with his nation-spanning The Cowboy Rides Away run of shows, which was billed as his last-ever tour. The historic event, which took place at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, featured an array of special, one-off duets, including Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Martina McBride, Faith Hill and more.

George Strait is believed to be working on a follow-up to his 2019 album, Honky Tonk Time Machine, as well as preparing to embark on a summer series of stadium shows alongside Chris Stapleton.