George Strait Introduction “I want to reach the point where people hear my name and immediately think of real country music (“George Strait Quotes,” 2018).” George Strait made this happen too, with hard work and persistence. Being turned down by multiple record companies was very hard on Strait. He kept working though, and it paid off. George won many awards, was inducted in the Hall of Fame, and kept old country alive when the “urban country” era started, making him one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Childhood Influences George Strait had many things that happened in his youth that influenced his future career. George was raised by his father on a 2,000-acre farm with his older brother Buddy. At a young age, his …show more content…
He was ranked behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles in third among all musicians for getting 115 certifications from RIAA. He also earned himself the title of most #1 Billboard country hits getting forty-four songs to #1 (George Strait, 2012). Out of his sixty-one singles, fifty-eight of them made it to the list of the country top ten. George Strait even starred in a movie. In 1992, Pure Country hit theaters. The movie gained Strait even more publicity and fans (Carlin, 2006). Winning himself twenty-two CMAs and twenty AMCs, Strait was an outstanding artist. In 2008, he also got the Artist of the Decade. The George Strait Country Music Festival was a very unusual thing for a country artist, but of course it would be George Strait who broke boundaries. He also made an album called Strait Out of the Box. It was very popular and sold like crazy (George Strait, 2012). Strait Out of the Box sold over five million copies which broke the records in country music history in the year 1999 (Bego, 1997). When Strait made the album Blue Clear Sky, he made a very rare accomplishment. The album made it onto both country and pop charts. It was played on pop radio stations too (Carlin, 2006). This crossover let fans of other genres hear George’s songs. All in all, Strait had a very triumphant career. His life was not a fairy tale though, he had some life changing things happen to him and his
Even though, he just had three solo albums Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, and Highway Companion, which were released in 1989, 1994’s, and 2006. All of his solo albums were popular and had hit songs such as I Won’t Back Down, Free Falling, You Don’t Know How It Feels, It’s Good to Be King, and Saving Grace. Specially, the second album, which was renewed label from his first album, produced by Rick Rubin, sold over three million
Country singer/songwriter, guitarist, and pianist Sam Hunt is a rising star that you’re soon to know the name of. While Sam Hunt is new, he is still one of the best artists. Some may even say, he is the best. Not only has Hunt won many awards, he writes his music in a way that is relatable to all of his listeners, but it is also very diverse. His songs don’t reflect traditional country music, but pleases fans of all genres.
Country music is full of talented individuals, male and female. The entire genre is comprised of world class songwriters, singers, artists, and management and production teams. Walking around Nashville, you’re never in short supply of “the next big thing.” Country music has gone from smokey bar rooms, to some of the biggest musical stages and venues imaginable. In a world where a Carrie Underwood show isn’t complete without a few costume changes to entertain 10,000 screaming fans, it leaves you to wonder why some of the most equally or more talent individuals still struggle to have their music gain huge traction.
In this paper, I will be going over some of Willie Nelson’s accomplishments, his struggles, and how he got started. Willie Nelson is a country solo artist who makes songs for multiple things, including movies. He does some songs on stage, while just records others. He has won multiple Grammy’s.
Number Fifteen: Carrie Underwood Has More CMT Music Awards Than Anyone Else Underwood has collected an impressive 13 of the channel's music awards over the years. This is more than any other country artist. Number Fourteen: Jason Aldean is the Most-Honored Aldean has received the "CMT Artist of the Year" award five times.
He was well known for country music and people like Johnny Cash sang his songs (Wallenfeldt,2013). Carl became well known in England after guitarist George Harrison played some of Carl's songs such as "Honey Don't," "Matchbox," and "Everybody Wants to Be My Baby” (Carlin, 2006). Also, one very early morning at 3 A.M., Carl wrote one of his most famous songs, “Blue Suede Shoes” on an empty potato bag. His song made it on the Top Ten country, R&B, and pop charts (Talevski, 2018). People such as Dave Edmunds and George Harrison were both greatly impacted by Carl (Larkin, 2002).
Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited was released in the same year and it sold over a million records. Bob Dylan continues to be looked toward as an inspiration to musicians of today which draws me to the conclusion that record sales do not influence the Grammys when it comes to who they select. Today, I would say winning a Grammy means more than it did in 1965. Winning a Grammy is a great honor, but it does not mean that the winner will forever be immortalized in music history. Unless there is an absolute clear front runner in the “big four” categories, the winners of these awards are really just who the committee happened to be listening to that year.
One way Elvis Presley propelled himself into superstardom was his mix of blues, R&B, country, and rockabilly. Although some adults of the generation found this music to be too dangerous for the mainstream, many teenages of the day found this new music to be very exciting and electrifying. In a way this made Elvis even more popular in the eyes of his now large and constantly growing
Following his unusual childhood, his adulthood was also very
Luke Bryan has worked over the years to become the successful country artist he is today. He grew up working on his father’s peanut farm, but in his early teens, he decided that he wanted to have a career in music (Luke Bryan Biography 1). Luke began writing songs with the help from others, which benefited him in the long run since many of his songs and albums have made it on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 charts (Luke Bryan Biography 1; Demings Award Section). Although Luke Bryan came from humble beginnings, growing up working on a farm in Georgia, his hard work and dedication through the years have propelled him to a very successful country career.
There are many great country stars today for example, Thomas Luther Bryan or many of you probably recognize him as Luke Bryan. Luke Bryan is an American country singer and songwriter. He began his music career in the mid 2000s. Luke Bryan was discovered when Capitol Records saw him perform at a restaurant and of course soon after signed him. Thanks to Capitol Records, Luke Bryan has sold over seven million albums, twenty seven million tracks worldwide and has twelve number one hits.
Like back in the mid 1980's, country music has taken a dive into commercial radio friendly pop songs. While there are a few playing "real" country such as Whitey Morgan and Wade Reeves, the majority of it isn't authentic country. While there are artists such as Hank lll and Steve Earle who have confidently raised a middle finger to the Nashville establishment, it hasn't eradicated the onslaught of pop artists masking as country singers. If you think Carrie Underwood is country, then you've obviously never heard of Patsy Cline. Today, country artists are judged more on how they look rather than how they sound.
(Braziller and Kleinfeld). Exactly what country music is today can be hard to define as the genre changes with each new artist that comes into it, but a look at the career of George Strait shows why, depsite all the changes in what represnts country mucic, he is known as the king of country music and is the ultimate example of what comes to mind when one speaks of the genre as
Elvis Presley has had more impact on American society and culture than any other person in history for the three following reasons; his large contribution to the start of the generation gap in the 1950’s, his huge impact on rock ‘n’ roll music, and finally, his music opened a door for some integration between races. First of all, in the 1950’s Elvis Presley and his music started the era of the generation gap between teenagers and their parents, an era which is still going on today. With Elvis being very young, attractive and his new type of music and dancing, teenage girls fell head over heels for the young star. Most parents though, did not feel the same way about Presley. He was often described a vulgar and many accused him of corrupting the youth.
(Rodman 28) Not only did Presley’s first album illustrate the main instrument that would become a popular one, throughout his career, Elvis had 114 songs on the Billboard Top 40 and 18 number one pop hits (Scrivani-Tidd). Presley helped set the standard of sales and records from all his hits and songs. After World War II, drastic changes occurred in America, like integration of the South.