The King.
George Strait is of course a country icon, 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 recognizable artists in the business... and many credit him (rightfully so), with helping bring back the neotraditional country sound to the mainstream with his pure and classic songs. While artists like Willie and Waylon pioneered the country outlaw movement in the 1970s and did become commercial successes over time, there was a gap for much of the genre in terms of the sound otherwise. In a vintage 1992 interview Strait did while promoting his movie
Pure Country , he gave an incredibly interesting answer about why country music was so popular again. Of course, we all know the '90s were a golden era for the genre, with artists like Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Garth and others becoming huge stars and making country one of the top genres in mainstream music. With the popularity of artists like Billy Strings, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, Zach Top and Red Clay Strays even, and so many more dominating charts and ticket sales today, it's certainly reminiscent of the '90s in that way and is an exciting time to be a fan. It mirrors that time in country music in so many ways, which makes this conversation all the more intriguing. When Strait was asked about the resurgence of the popularity of country back in 1992, which he had a LOT to do with, it sounds exactly like something he could say today and be spot on:
"Well, back when I first signed with MCA Records, you know, there was kind of a lull in country music... it seemed to me like there was. I hate to philosophize on all this stuff, because I certainly don't have all the answers to this. But my opinion is, it was a time when crossover records were huge, everybody was trying to go in and cut a crossover record. If you cut something that was really country, that just wasn't the thing to do. I don't think radio was really looking for that, but I think the country music audience was there. They just weren't getting that music, and once the trends started changing for whatever reason, the audience just kept growing and growing and growing. Certainly now, more than ever, you have more new artists out there than ever before. It seems like there's new guys and girls coming along every day, which means that there's a lot more variety of songs here. It's getting bigger and bigger." He joked that it was obviously great for him and his business, but he hoped it wasn't just some flash in the pan thing that would fizzle out after a couple years:
"As long as we keep making good country music, as artists, and stay with the songs and music that causes people to change, it will only get better and better." And while obviously, country music has taken quite a few different directions in terms of the broader, more mainstream sound in the over 30 years since this interview took place, Strait has remained the standard and is still selling out stadiums,
and breaking records , in 2024. It's because of artists like him, and now the young artists that are the stars of the genre that he inspired, that country music is what it is, and I could obviously watch, and listen to him talk, all day long. Check it out: https://youtu.be/Do7i2uBdOhc?t=631
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