The “King of Country Music” George Strait hinted that his time on the stage may be drawing close to an end.
During a performance in Philadelphia last week, Strait, 72, opened up to his fans that the road to permanently retiring is inevitable.
“I have maybe five good years to sing my songs for you folks,” Strait said to the audience during his concert, as seen in a video a fan shared to social media.
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Despite the looming idea of retirement, Strait’s love of performing remains as he laughed and smiled with his fans.
“But hell, it’s been around 50 [years] now,” he reflected. “And I still love it just as much as I ever did. When … I walk through those curtains and I see your smiling faces, my feet don’t touch the ground again until I walk back out and get on that bus.”
In 2012, Strait announced his retirement from touring; however, he occasionally performs for his country fans from time to time.
“I don’t know how many more years I can do this. I figure a few,” he continued. “I do want you to know, though, when I do walk off this stage and I’m settled in far away from all this … I’ll still hear your screams and cheers in my mind, and I will always remember you.”
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Although Strait appeared mindful of the physical toll that the road takes on a performer, he has not shown signs of slowing down.
In September, he released his first album in five years, “Cowboys and Dreamers.”
Also in 2024, the “Amarillo by Morning” singer broke a U.S. concert attendance record for the largest U.S. ticketed show when he stepped onstage at Kyle Field at Texas A&M in College Station.
At the time, Strait played to a crowd of 110,905 fans in central Texas, as he broke an all-time attendance record previously set by the Grateful Dead nearly 50 years ago.
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“The energy was absolutely incredible. We felt like we were making history, even before the record-breaking attendance was announced,” an insider told Fox News Digital about his performance. “Kyle Field is already an amazing place, and this just took it to another level.”
“So many Texans grew up on George Strait, so to have him perform in the heart of Aggieland where he is so beloved, was something really special. From packed floor seats to the top rows on the highest deck, everyone was all in for George.”
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The Texas native grew up ranching on his family’s 2,000-acre cattle farm. He was inspired by British Invasion rock groups in the 1960s and began playing in garage bands in high school, where he met his longtime love, Norma.
The country legend has achieved the most No. 1 albums in the history of country music, which includes 20 of his 60 No. 1 hits.
Strait has 13 multiplatinum albums and 38 gold albums. His 1992 “Pure Country” catalog went six times platinum, and his highest certified album is the 1995 classic “Strait Out of the Box.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
