Honoring the King.
On a night that featured three major wins for Chris Stapleton, a long-awaited Entertainer of the Year award for Morgan Wallen and an Album of the Year win for Cody Johnson, all eyes were on George Strait yesterday when he received the highly-coveted Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award which is given to an iconic artist who has attained the highest degree of recognition in country music.
The award recognizes those who have achieved both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming numbers, record sales and public representation at the highest level.
Strait was the first artist to receive the honor in two years and joined the likes of Nelson himself, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Charley Pride, Loretta Lynn and Alan Jackson as the only artists owning the award.
Before he was presented with the award, a star-studded cast featuring co-host, Lainey Wilson, Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum and Chris Stapleton took to the stage to perform a medley of the King’s hits throughout his career.
Lainey Wilson kicked the medley off, performing arguably Strait’s most iconic hit, “Amarillo By Morning.” After finishing the short cover, Wilson said, “Throughout his incredible career, he’s always been authentically Texas and authentically country. George, I just want to say you are truly an inspiration to me and all of us in country music. We love you.”
Johnson, fresh off making headlines with a drug-related arrest, continued the medley, giving a sultry performance of Strait’s record-breaking #1 hit, “Give It Away,” which gave Strait his 41st #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Lambert and McCollum then joined Johnson on stage and teamed up for a killer duet of “Troubadour,” another one of Strait’s later hits.
On the second stage at Bridgestone Arena, Strait himself was joined by Stapleton for a performance of “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame,” the pair’s duet featured on the “Amarillo By Morning” singer’s brand new album, Cowboys And Dreamers.
After the performance, Stapleton presented Strait with the award, introducing him as “country royalty.”
Strait began his acceptance speech by thanking God and the CMAs for the honor, “First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I want to thank the CMAs for adding my name to the incredible artists on this small list of recipients carrying the name of the icon, Willie Nelson.”
He then went on to thank MCA Records, his band, his late manager and drummer, Tom Foote, his late fiddle player, Gene Elders, and his family before closing the speech by saying, “It’s been an amazing 53 years. Thank you, everybody.”
Watch the full performance here: