ARLINGTON, Texas — Country music king George Strait capped off the last tour of his career with an epic, star-studded final performance at the billion-dollar stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play, dazzling an audience of nearly 105,000 people with duet
ARLINGTON, Texas — Country music king George Strait capped off the last tour of his career with an epic, star-studded final performance at the billion-dollar stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play, dazzling an audience of nearly 105,000 people with duet after duet with some of the biggest names in country music.
The attendance shattered the previous record set by The Rolling Stones at The Louisiana Superdome in 1981. More than 10,000 fans alone took in the three-hour show from the stadium floor.
“Oh, man. I tell you what. This is too much fun,” he said.
Known for his honky-tonk style, classic interpretation of Western swing and Texas cowboy get-up, Strait is the undisputed patriarch of a generation of country music stars, none of whom left the stage Saturday without paying homage to or receiving a hug from the country music legend.
Jason Aldean credited Strait as “not only a huge influence for me but everyone else in Nashville.”
After Martina McBride joined Strait to sing “Jackson,” the country classic made famous by the Johnny Cash-June Carter rendition, she remarked on the fun the two had on tour together in 2011 and 2012.
Kenny Chesney called the two years he spent on the road with Strait early in his career “the most educational” in his touring life.
The unusually chatty Strait appeared to bask in the enormous crowd of fans, standing at their seats, swaying and singing along, regularly raising his arms like a band conductor to raise the volume.
Strait is also beloved by his legions of fans for his gracious, everyman demeanor, which was in ample display Saturday.
During the second half of the show, he played the 2011 hit “I’ll Always Remember You,” which he said was inspired by his fans.
All of Strait’s guest stars returned to the stage for an encore.
The show brought an end to Strait’s nearly 40 years on the road, starting in 1975 with the Ace in the Hole Band. Many of the 11-piece band’s original members played back up Saturday, “the best band anybody could have out here on the road,” Strait said.
Born in Poteet and raised in Pearsall, about 60 miles southwest of San Antonio, Strait has more gold and platinum albums than any other music act except The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
And while he’s quitting the road, he may yet add to his chart-topping total after renewing his deal with MCA Records last year to produce five more albums.
Strait began this last tour, The Cowboy Rides Away, last year. Each of the 45 stadiums and arenas he’s played during the tour has sold out. He’s performed for an estimated 1 million fans.
As he sang the tour’s eponymous song at the end of the set, fans waved, cheered and did the two-step. And the cowboy rode away.
