George Strait was born on May 18, 1952, just south of San Antonio, Texas, in Poteet, and was raised in rural Pearsall. His father, John Strait, taught junior high math during the week and, with the help of George, his brother Buddy, and their grandparents, worked the family 2,000 acre cattle ranch in Big Wells. While George's parent divorced when he was in the fourth grade, he and Buddy lived with his father, facing many hard times together. John Strait put his own social life on hold until the two boys were grown and on their own, concentrating on raising his sons and managing their ranch. George recites, with great respect, the dedication and sacrifices his father made during this time.

It was not until junior high school that George became involved with music, taking band and playing the coronet in the school band for 3 years. With other school chums, he began forming garage bands that never realized any success, singing songs such as "Louie, Louie, and "Gloria". He was more of a Beatles fan than country music, although he never took his singing seriously.

Not long after graduation, he married his high sweetheart, Norma. Soon afterwards, he entered Southwest Texas State University, more interested in pursuing a degree in agriculture than entering into music as a career. After just a few semesters, he enlisted in the Army in 1971 and was soon sent to Hawaii, where Norma joined him. It was while he was stationed here, working in the Army payroll department, that his thoughts began focusing on music as a career.

Soon afterwards, George purchased a cheap guitar and some old Hank Williams song books, and set out teaching himself to play and learning enough songs that he might put a band together. The original band formed at this time only lasted about two months, but the seed was planted. His first big break came in 1973, when the base commander was forming bands to entertain the troops and George auditioned for the part of lead singer in the country band and won the position. He finished the third and final year of his enlistment as a country singer. The dream of becoming a full time country singer was now part of George Strait, a dream which he shared with Norma.

Not long after leaving the Army, George and Norma returned to San Marcos, Texas, with their daughter, Jenifer. Reentering Southwestern Texas State University under the G.I. Bill, george was able to continue his education, as well as afford to still play his music. It was at this time, in 1975, that George began to serious chase his dream, posting a notice on the college bulletin board thatread, "COUNTRY SINGER NEEDS A BAND". As fate would have it, a band known as Stoney Ridge had also posted a notice that they were looking for a lead singer. Playing and practicing after classes, they soon felt that they were ready to step out and test the waters. It was at this time that the name 'Ace In The Hole Band' was adopted, representing the gamble they felt they were taking. From their first gig on October 14, 1975, they began a series of dates involving low paying engagements in local clubs. As their confidence grew, they ventured out to a 200 mile radius of san Antonio, sticking to their committment of playing only Texas dance music. It was during this time, while playing at a club in San Marcos, that they caught the attention of club owner Erv Woolsey, a former record promoter. Woolsey later returned to music promotion and convinced George that he should give Nashville a try. In 1977, he made his first trip to Nashville, but after very little success, returned to Texas.

When asked who had an influence on his singing style, George narrows the short list down to Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Hank Williams. Bob Wills may be added to this list, as it was the tribute to Bob done by Merle Haggard in 1970 that introduced George to the many aspects of Texas swing music that are still an integral part of his music style.

Along with the Ace In The Hole Band, George returned to playing the clubs and honky tonks of south and central Texas, developing a loyal following. Although the band had released three singles on a local Texas label, none of them had the required polish needed to make them a hit for the group. After graduation from college in 1979, George hired on as foreman for a cattle ranch outside San Marcos. Due to the long hours and hard work involved in cattle ranching, George almost made the decision to give up country music, fearing that he'd wake up one day in his 40's to find that he was still just playing in local bars. Although he enjoyed the playing, he realized that it would take more than playing these bars to support his family. He gave the band his notice and accepted a full time job with a larger ranch in Uvalde, Texas, but just a week before he was due to start that job, he realized his dream was not fulfilled. He backed out of the job committment and contacted Erv Woolsey, who was, at this time, vice-president of A&R at MCA Records in Nashville. Erv convinced George to come to Nashville and cut some demos.

Success was not immediate. After cutting three demos, which Erv promoted to his bosses, there was still no offer of a recording contract. George returned to Texas and performing at clubs, where Erv convinced his immediate boss to make two trips to Texas to hear George in his natural environment. After the second visit, at which time the group had started playing less swing music and leaning more towards a commercial sound, an offer was made to cut a single, which convinced the brass at MCA to sign him after listening to it. That single was titled "Unwound". As Unwound made it up the country chart, all the way to number 6, the production of George's first album, titled Strait Country, was underway. The rest, as they say, is history.

The foundation had been laid, and for the past 20 years, George Strait has dominated country music. Twenty-Five albums have gone platinum, more than any other country singer and second only to Elvis among solo artists. He has logged 36 No 1 singles, right behind Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty. He has 50 CMA nominations, including being named Entertainer of the Year twice and Male Vocalist of the year three times. Whatever the future holds for George Strait, it is without a doubt that he will continue to add to these numbers, gathering more and more dedicated fans along the way.

This bio is edited from the liner notes by Paul Kingsbury, included in the box set, "Strait Out Of The Box".