The KING.
The one and only George Strait is set to be honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s CMA awards show.
The prestigious honor always goes to an iconic artist as one of the highest degrees of recognition in country music, and recognizes artists who’ve reached a certain level of both national and international prominence, through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming numbers, record sales, and public representation.
Previous recipients of the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award include Willie Nelson (2012), Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Kris Kristofferson (2019), Charley Pride (2020), Loretta Lynn (2021) and Alan Jackson (2022).
Yeah, it’s an impressive group, and there’s no question that Strait is extremely deserving and had to have been one of the easiest decisions they made in terms of this year’s awards.
Of course, Strait is one of the most recognizable and well-respected country artists alive, building his career over decades with who started his legendary career in 1981 with his debut single “Unwound.”
He famously has 60 #1 hits to his name, and is still one of the most beloved and talented artists in the business. Many credit him (rightfully so), with helping bring back the neotraditional country sound to the mainstream with his pure and classic songs.
It’s exciting to see that he will be honored in this way, and I’m sure there’s a star-studded tribute that will also be part of the ceremony for the evening. It’s a huge honor, and I could not think of an artist who truly deserves it more. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the awards, the CMA got this one very right:
We are thrilled to honor George Strait with the 2024 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the CMA awards! Don’t miss him accept this honor at Country Music’s Biggest Night on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 8/7c on ABC Network!”
We are thrilled to honor @GeorgeStrait with the 2024 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the #CMAawards! ❤️
Don’t miss him accept this honor at Country Music’s Biggest Night on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 8/7c on @ABCNetwork! pic.twitter.com/KGIra1lkfb
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 12, 2024
Obviously, country music has taken quite a few different directions in terms of the broader, more mainstream sound since he first started in the early 80’s, but Strait has remained the standard and is still selling out stadiums, and breaking records, in 2024, which only further proves his lasting importance and impact on country music.
The 58th Annual CMA Awards are slated for November 20th, airing live on ABC at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Lainey Wilson will join hosts Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, who hosted the show together last year.
In terms of nominees, Morgan Wallen leads the pack with seven nominations in total, and Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson are right behind him with five each. Reigning entertainer of the year Lainey has four, tying with Post Malone who received his first-ever CMA nods.
Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Sierra Hull, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Ashley McBryde, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Chris Stapleton, Teddy Swims, Thomas Rhett, Molly Tuttle and Lainey Wilson are all slated to perform, with more artists still to be announced.
Long live the King… seeing him be rightfully recognized might be the only part of the show I tune in for, honestly.
“Unwound”
