It’s likely that George Strait is referenced in country songs more than any other artist. More than Loretta Lynn or Dolly Parton.
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The 70-year-old Poteet, Texas-born country star is one of the most impactful artists in his genre. With a cowboy hat and boots on, Strait brought a sense of authenticity back to Nashville.
The artist, who rose to fame in the early ’80s thanks to songs like “Unwound,” earned the Artist of the Decade Award from the Academy of Country Music and his first Grammy Award in the 2000s. And in 2009, Strait broke Conway Twitty’s record for the most No. 1 hits on the Billboard Country charts. Strait boasts a stunning 44.
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But what does the artist, who has sold more than 120 million albums, have to say about the world around him outside of his prolific song lyrics? What about life and love, his craft, and more?
Here are the 20 best George Strait quotes.
1. “You don’t have to be a cheater to sing a cheatin’ song.”
2. “You know, traditional country music is something that’s going to be around forever… I’m not worried about it.”
3. “I want to reach the point where people hear my name and immediately think of real country music.”
4. “You’ve got to keep the stage world and your real world separated or you’re headed for trouble.”
5. “I’d say three years ago we played in my hometown of San Antonio for 55,000 people at the Alamodome and walking out there with a crowd like that is just, you’re excited, you’re scared. There are just so many emotions going on. I still get nervous for things like that until after I sing about the first one or two songs, then I settle down.”
6. “I love the song ‘El Rey.’ And for years, I never knew what the song was totally about. It was something new for me. I’d never sung a song in Spanish before. Then I got the translation and saw what a really cool song it was.”
7. “I remember that in ’81, country radio was pretty pop, and everybody wanted a crossover record—and all of a sudden it came back to traditional. Now it’s kind of swung the other way a little bit, but it always comes back.”
8. “Country music is important to me, and I love it, but it’s not my whole life.”
9. “I’m always looking for great songs, and not being much of a songwriter, I depend on great songwriters to send them to me. I go through tons of stuff, and sometimes you just find material that kind of fits and becomes something special.”
10. “Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys are simply the best band that ever was.”
11. “I don’t think my music’s as traditional as people make it out.”
12. “Sinatra, in my opinion, is possibly the greatest male singer of all time.”
13. “I’ve been blessed with the ability to sing, and that has taken me so many places I never would have gone otherwise.”
14. “I always enjoy it when I walk on stage. There were some times when I was working so much in the ’80s, and I felt really burnt out. But I’d be up there singing and not be 10,000 million miles away, you know, just opening my mouth and the words coming out.”
15. “I think the melody is the first time I hear in a song and if I like the melody, then I’ll pay closer attention to the lyrics.”
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16. “When I think about putting together an album, the process of listening to hundreds of songs each time and picking out the best 10 or so that will go on the record, it really sinks in as to just how many songs I’ve listened to all these years.”
17. “If it’s a good song and it fits me, that’s what I’m going to do, I’m not out there trying to change the world. I’m just out there trying to sing country music the best way I can.”
18. “I didn’t want to be 40 or 50 years old and still playing clubs, I didn’t feel like I was making any progress, and I actually gave the band notice at one point. I began to have doubts about my abilities.”
19. “I think Beyond the Blue Neon is the best I’ve ever done.”
20. “You know, legends are people like Haggard and Jones and Wills and Sinatra. Those people are legends. I’m just a young buck out here trying to keep in that same circle with the rest of ’em.”
Photo by David McClister / Ebie Media
