George Strait is one of the titans of his artistic genre. At 74, the widely-acknowledged "King of Country Music" has hits galore to his credit. They include career-defining tracks like "Amarillo by Morning," "Write This Down," and "I Cross My Heart," which are just a few of his classic gems. Strait's awards shelf must be very crowded by now. He's landed CMA and ACM awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy, and many other esteemed accolades. To those he has already won, George Strait can now proudly add another. On October 26, he was honored with the Career Maker Award from the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. That milestone was only given one previous time, to Reba McEntire in 2018.
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Also recognized for their outstanding musical contributions were Taylor Swift, Shawn Camp, Lee Thomas Miller, Lyle Lovett, the late J.I. Allison, and Bruce Channel, per The Tennessean. The coveted honors were distributed at Music City Center. The invitation-only audience numbered about 1,300.
Exceptional Songwriters Turned Out in Force for Strait
The stage was filled with remarkable talent to celebrate with George Strait. In fact, per the outlet, "more than 40 Hall of Fame songwriters" crowded around him for the gala occasion. To make the moment even more extraordinary, Gary Nicholson and Dean Dillon gave Strait a guitar that was signed by all these amazing country song crafters.
He Accepted the Award With Grace and Humility
If there is one word that encapsulates the man, it's class. He has it in abundance. Despite his towering stature in the industry, George Strait has always been modest, appreciative, and hard-working. Fans truly love him for those admirable qualities.
When Strait accepted his award, he did it with consummate dignity. He characteristically deflected the attention to others. The star quipped, "When I first heard that they wanted to give me this award, I'm going like, OK, I'll come. Only if I can make a speech. You know how good at that I am."
On a serious note, he added, "I think they had this turned around because they made my career. I didn't make theirs. Nashville's shown me a lot of love over the years. I've always loved coming to Nashville and recording here around these guys and seeing them from time to time. And I just want to say thank y'all, all of you who sent songs my way and made my career. I appreciate it very much."
