George Strait: Garth Is a Great Guy!
Garth Brooks & George Strait are two of the biggest stars in country music. When the two of them get together, you can bet it’s going to be magic. Last October, George Strait inducted Garth Brooks into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In his speech, Garth said, “I still want to be George Strait so damned bad. I just love him.” This week, Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton played that clip for George, who responded by saying, “Garth has always treated me with the utmost respect, and what a great guy, to say things like that. I guess we all have our heroes, like George Jones was one of mine, and Merle Haggard, and to have somebody look at me like I looked at those people is pretty special for me. Garth is such a huge artist, when he asked me to induct him, how can you say no?”
LISTEN: 13-19 Strait3
The irony is that George Strait is closing out his Cowboy Rides Away tour in 2014, the same year it’s rumored that Garth will launch a new tour. Lon asked George if he spoke with Garth about that. George replied, “Not at the Hall of Fame, but I did a little bit at the ACM Awards. He didn’t say much about what he’s going to do. I think he’s going to announce that on his own, but whenever it is, I’m sure it’s going to be huge.”
Speaking of the ACMs, Garth & George performed together that night in tribute to the late Dick Clark. George talked about that experience with Lon: “It was special for me too. We’d never done that before, and other than the Hall Of Fame, that was probably the most I’ve been around Garth. It was a lot of fun, and it’s interesting, there wasn’t even a part in my song for him to sing, so I suggested he just sing harmony, and he did! He did a great job!” Lon said to him, I hope that happens again sometime, and George responded, “Me too, me too.”
LISTEN: 13-19 Strait4