George Strait, the Texas singer fans call the King of Country, went to Nashville this week for a night meant to celebrate him. By the end of it he had handed the praise right back to the room.
It happened Monday night at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame’s 56th Anniversary Gala, held at the Music City Center downtown. George was there to accept something called the Career Maker Award. This is not a trophy the Hall hands out every year. It goes to an artist who helped build songwriters’ careers by recording their songs and carrying them up the charts.
Only one other person had ever received it.
That was Reba McEntire, the Oklahoma star known across country music as its queen, back in 2018. For eight years the award had just her name on it. Now George’s name sits next to hers, which makes him only the second artist ever to get it.
Two songwriters did the honors of presenting it, Gary Nicholson and Dean Dillon. Dillon is no stranger to George’s story. He co-wrote “The Chair,” one of George’s signature songs from way back in 1985.
George being George, he poked a little fun at even showing up. He said he told them he would come “only if I can make a speech,” then added, “You know how good at that I am.”
When he got to the microphone, he walked the crowd through how the whole thing had hit him at first.
“And when I first heard that they wanted to give me this award, I’m going like, ‘Okay, I’ll come only if I can make a speech,'” he said.
Then came the part nobody expected from a man being honored for his own career. George felt the award had it the wrong way around. The way he sees it, the songwriters in that room are the ones who made him, and not the other way around.
Here is what he told them, word for word.
“I heard that and I’m going like, I think they got this turned around because they made my career. I didn’t make theirs. That’s the way I feel. I truly do and I always will and Nashville has shown me a lot of love over the years. Not that first trip… but a lot of love over the years.”
That little aside, “not that first trip,” points back to his early days, when Nashville wasn’t exactly quick to open its doors to him. He didn’t sit in it. He let it go with a grin and moved on to the thank-yous.
The local news in Nashville put together a short report on the honor and why the Hall picked him for it.
A Nashville news report on George Strait’s rare Career Maker honor
For a singer with more number one songs than anyone else in country music, turning around and giving the credit back to the writers felt about right. It’s the kind of moment that makes fans love him a little more than they already did.