George Strait to Receive Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award

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At the 2024 CMA Awards on Wednesday, November 20th, George Strait will receive the highest award that the CMAs can dole out—the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. First awarded in 2012 when Willie Nelson became the inaugural recipient, the Lifetime Achievement Award isn’t handed out every year, and Strait will be the first recipient of the award in three years.

There will also be a “a star-studded performance by several artists who deeply admire Strait” as part of the 58th Annual CMA Awards presentation.

During his career, George Strait won the coveted CMA Entertainer of the Year award three times (1989, 1990, and 2013), as well as 17 other CMA Awards, and is the most nominated artist in CMA Awards history with 83 total. Strait is also a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is operated and selected by the CMA. These accolades go along with 60 No. 1 singles and 33 Platinum or multi-Platinum-selling albums.

The CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded 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. The artist receiving this award has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of the genre over the course of many years and has proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on fans and industry alike.

The previous recipients of the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award are Willie Nelson (2012), Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Kris Kristofferson (2019), Charley Pride (2020), Loretta Lynn (2021) and Alan Jackson (2022).

“There have been few other artists as authentically Texas and authentically Country as George Strait, and Country Music fans all over the world have been better for it,” says Sarah Trahern, the CMA’s CEO. “As a three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year and the most nominated artist of all time, he serves as an inspiration and icon to many of the great, new artists we know today. I am thrilled we are awarding him with this deserving honor.”

If nothing else, George Strait receiving the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award means there will at least be some actual country music featured on Wednesday night’s CMA Awards on ABC.

Make sure to tune in for Saving Country Music’s annual LIVE blog during the presentation.

© 2024 Saving Country Music

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