Cody & The King

Last week, Cody Johnson opened a concert for George Strait in Clemson SC. When Cody co-hosted Country Countdown USA, he said he was looking forward to the show. “There will only be one king of country music, and that’s George Strait. If you don’t believe it, come to Clemson, because I’m the opener, and happy to be.”

The show in Clemson came just a few weeks after Cody played the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. That night, he broke the record for most people in NRG Stadium. Over 80,000 fans. That record had been set by George Strait. Cody told Lon that he set a goal that night: “I watched George Strait set the record. I was in a suite that night, and the entire time, I thought ‘I’m gonna break that record. I’m gonna set a goal that in the next ten years, I’m gonna break that record.’ It took me five.”

So a few weeks later Cody opened for George, and the two had a chance to speak with each other after the show. We wondered if the topic of Houston came up. It did. Cody told us this: “I got to sit on his bus and have a 30 minute conversation with George about nothing. We talked about golf, and we talked about cattle. And to hear George Strait say to me like, “Son, you’re doing it the right way. Like, don’t change anything you’re doing. You’re doing it the right way.” And man, I’m proud of you and you’re representing Texas. You’re representing country music well. You’re representing Cowboys well. And it just meant the world to me.

And so I mentioned to him that, ‘Well, you know, I broke your record at Houston.’ And he didn’t know. He said, “Do what?” I said, “Yeah, I busted your record at Houston rodeo at NRG Stadium.” He said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll have to come back eventually and kick your ass. And I said, “I hope you do because I want to watch because that gives me a reason to come back.” So it was a pretty it’s been a pretty good year so far.”

Cody shared one more bit of his conversation with George Strait:  “I asked him, I said, “When does the cowboy ride away?” And he said, “Well, he already did, but he had to come back because it was driving me crazy.” And Norma said, “You better get out of the house before I kill you. You’re driving me nuts.” Um, he’s like, “So, I just picked seven stadiums. I’m just going to play seven stadiums.” He said, “I’m doing it for the love of the game because I love being on the road.” And I thought, “When does that happen for me? Is it in five years? Is it in Is it in 20 years?” But no matter when that happens, when I say I’ve had fun, see you guys later. I’ll see you in a couple years, maybe. And just take my break. What? Maybe it happens. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I tour till I’m 90 like Willie Nelson. I don’t know what this future for me holds. But no matter where it happens, when it happens, if it happens.”

Tags: cody johnson, featured, george strait

Category: CO-HOST