Blake Shelton joining George Strait’s summer tour

Posted by brandy

January 21, 2009

 

Blake Shelton

Oklahoma country singer-songwriter is joining George Strait on the star’s summer tour, Strait’s publicist announced today.

Shelton, who was born in Ada and lives in Tishomingo, also will join the tour’s previously announced opener Julianne Hough for most shows. Hough is a Mercury Nashville recording artist and two-time champion on the reality TV show “Dancing With The Stars.”

A multi-platinum performer, Shelton has released five studio albums, including his most recent, “Startin’ Fires,” in November 2008. His current hit single, “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” is No. 3 on the country singles charts and climbing. Shelton’s hits include his six-week No. 1 debut single, “Austin,” and three additional multi-week No. 1 singles with “The Baby,” “Some Beach” and “Home.”

“I have the utmost respect for George Strait and to be invited to be on his tour is a huge honor, he truly is a living legend. Thank you George Strait for this incredible opportunity,” said Shelton in the news release.

In addition, Shelton will perform Thursday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which airs in late night on ABC.

Hough recently topped both the country and Top 200 charts with her self-titled debut album, as well as with the infectious debut single “That Song In My Head.” Her first holiday album, “The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection,” was a top-selling Christmas release for Target stores.

Recently, Strait discussed his career success by acknowledging, “My fans are the most loyal fans in the world. The Best! Period. A lot of them who started coming to see my shows years ago are still coming today and now some of them are even bringing their kids with them. It just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Strait will kick off his tour May 9 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas as he helps the citizens of Hidalgo, Texas, celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Dodge Arena. It will be Strait’s first visit to Hidalgo and his first foray in many years to the South Texas Valley.

In July, Strait will cross the border to Canada to perform at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, and the Craven Country Jamboree in Craven, Saskatchewan. Strait will also perform at Country Fest 2009 in Cadott, Wisc., Music Fest in Milwaukee and will return to the Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyo., for a special one-night performance.

As of now, the tour doesn’t have any Oklahoman dates listed. 

George Strait recently received four Grammy nominations including Best Country Album for “Troubadour,” Best Male Country Vocal Performance for “Troubadour,” Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for “Shiftwork” with Kenny Chesney and “House of Cash” with Patty Loveless.

He is one of the most successful and prolific country music artists of all time. With a career that spans more than 25 years, Strait holds the record for the most Number One hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and currently has 56 number one singles to his credit. He has sold more than 67 million records, garnering him 32 different platinum or multi-platinum albums resulting in the most RIAA platinum certification in country music and the third in all genres, behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

On April 6, Strait will receive the Academy of Country Music’s Artist of the Decade award in recognition of his record-breaking career. Only four other acts have been honored as Artist of the Decade in the academy’s history, including Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988 and Oklahoman Garth Brooks in 1998. Strait has won 19 Academy of Country Music Awards including “Entertainer of the Year” in 1990. At this year’s 42nd Annual CMA Awards, George became the artist with the most CMA Awards in history with the addition of Single of the Year for “I Saw God Today” and Album of the Year for “Troubadour,” both co-produced by Strait and Tony Brown. These two trophies and two additional for producing bring Strait’s tally to 22, eclipsing Brooks & Dunn’s previous record of 19 Awards.

-BAM