We live in a 'what have you done for me lately?' kind of world. It doesn't matter if you're an icon in the industry or are coming off of a hot record. The name of the game is frequent visibility. Naturally, the industry fails to consider artists like George Strait.
So you might not hear the country icon next to any Morgan Wallen or Luke Combs types any time soon. Barring some unforeseen cover, it's likely we aren't seeing George Strait on modern country radio. George seems to be fine with it too.
In a 2017 documentary Tennessee Whiskey: The Dean Dillon Story, the classic country crooner shrugs off the lack of publicity. He still has his core and it's a pretty strong one. "If I cut the best song in the world right now, I don't think the radio would play it either," Strait says. "I always said to myself, 'I'm not going to be mad when that happens to me.' Because I saw it happen to Merle, I saw it happen to George, and other artists. Radio just quit playin' 'em. I was going, 'What the hell? Where's Merle's records this month or this year?' I still wanted to hear 'em. And so that's the kind of thing that happened to me as well."
George Strait Proves How Popular He Is in Massive Concert
You might argue that George Strait is past his prime and it makes sense why he's not on radio like that anymore. Maybe there's truth to it but it doesn't matter anyway. Over 4 decades into this, he still makes history. Recently, he performs at Kyle Field to a record breaking 110,905 people. That's bigger than Beyoncé, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, the previous titleholders The Grateful Dead.
Frankly, I don't know how much I would care about radio if I'm routinely selling out my shows like this. With a devout audience who can pack out a football stadium, I don't think Strait is missing a check. Frankly, it's their loss.
