George Strait is the Poteet, Texas-born leader of neotraditional country, with 60 number-one country singles and more than 100 million records sold since his 1981 debut. Greatest Hits (1985) or the Pure Country soundtrack (1992) is the easy way in — then four decades of MCA Nashville catalog await. Shop George Strait vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
George Harvey Strait Sr. was born in Poteet, Texas on May 18, 1952. He served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1975 and graduated from Southwest Texas State University before signing with MCA Nashville in 1981. His debut single Unwound (1981) launched a sustained run of country chart success that has continued across more than four decades, with 60 number-one country singles on the Billboard charts (more than any other artist in any genre). He is widely cited as the leader of the 1980s neotraditional country movement and one of the defining figures in late-20th-century mainstream country.
George Strait's sound combines country, neotraditional country, honky tonk, country pop, and traditional country with his distinctive smooth baritone vocal delivery and arrangements drawing on classic Western swing, honky tonk, and traditional country reference points. His career has been a defining template for mainstream country music traditionalism.
MCA Nashville pressings of the George Strait catalog have been issued in standard editions across the long catalog. Multiple anniversary box sets and Strait Out of the Box compilations have been released.
Listeners new to George Strait typically start with Greatest Hits (1985) or Pure Country (1992).
