George Strait
George Strait is a Grammy Award winning American country singer who has been singing country music for over thirty years. Strait is referred to as the King of Country Music who stayed closest to traditional country. Drawing from both the honkey tonk and western swing traditions, Strait didn’t refashion the genres; instead he revitalized them for an incipient decade. In the process, he became one of country music’s most popular contemporary singers.
George Harvey Strait was born in Poteet, Texas on May 18th, 1952, to John and Doris strait. George was raised on a family owned farm near Pearsall, Texas. When George was in the third grade, his parents divorced. His mother took his sister with her, while George and his brother stayed with their father. When Strait was a teenager, he began his music by joining a rock and roll band, but soon turned to county music with singers Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Bob Wills, Hank Williams and Frank Sinatra influencing his style. After his high school graduation in the late ‘60s, George enrolled in college at “Southwest Texas State University, but dropped out and eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma, in Mexico” (Fabian 1). In 1971, Strait enlisted in the U.S. Army. While Stationed in Hawaii he began playing country music in an Army sponsored band called Rambling Country.
In 1975, Strait was discharged from the Army and returned back to Texas to complete his education. He enrolled back in Southwest Texas State University (now known as Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas, where he graduated in 1979 with a degree in agriculture (Fabian 1). During his college years, he joined the country band Ace in the Hole and quickly became the lead singer; they began to perform at different honky tonks and bars around south and central Texas, traveling as far east as Huntsville and Houston. Ace in the Hole made a few records for the independent Dallas based label D in the late 70s. However, the songs never
George Harvey Strait was born in Poteet, Texas on May 18th, 1952, to John and Doris strait. George was raised on a family owned farm near Pearsall, Texas. When George was in the third grade, his parents divorced. His mother took his sister with her, while George and his brother stayed with their father. When Strait was a teenager, he began his music by joining a rock and roll band, but soon turned to county music with singers Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Bob Wills, Hank Williams and Frank Sinatra influencing his style. After his high school graduation in the late ‘60s, George enrolled in college at “Southwest Texas State University, but dropped out and eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma, in Mexico” (Fabian 1). In 1971, Strait enlisted in the U.S. Army. While Stationed in Hawaii he began playing country music in an Army sponsored band called Rambling Country.
In 1975, Strait was discharged from the Army and returned back to Texas to complete his education. He enrolled back in Southwest Texas State University (now known as Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas, where he graduated in 1979 with a degree in agriculture (Fabian 1). During his college years, he joined the country band Ace in the Hole and quickly became the lead singer; they began to perform at different honky tonks and bars around south and central Texas, traveling as far east as Huntsville and Houston. Ace in the Hole made a few records for the independent Dallas based label D in the late 70s. However, the songs never