George Strait to Receive Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at 2024 CMA Awards

George Strait will be the 2024 recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Country Music Association Awards.

In an announcement made on Tuesday, Nov. 12, Strait is set to accept the award at the ceremony which takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

“There have been few other artists as authentically Texas and authentically Country as George Strait, and country music fans all over the world have been better for it,” Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer said in a statement. “As a three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year and the most nominated artist of all time, he serves as an inspiration and icon to many of the great, new artists we know today. I am thrilled we are awarding him with this deserving honor.” 

Dubbed "The King of Country," Strait's generation-spanning career includes 60 No. 1 singles, over 30 platinum or multi-platinum albums and is the only act in history to have a Top 10 hit every year for over 30 years. His relationship with the CMA Awards includes being decorated as entertainer of the year three times (1989, 1990, 2013), 17 wins and a whopping 83 nominations, making him the most-nominated artist in CMA history.

The Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced in 2012, first being bestowed to its namesake. The award is given to "an iconic artist who has attained the highest degree of recognition in country music." While the music is a big part of the award, the recognition also takes into account the artist's "both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming numbers, record sales and public representation at the highest level."

Previous Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Kris Kristofferson (2019), Charley Pride (2020), Loretta Lynn (2021) and Alan Jackson (2022).  

Over the summer, Strait broke a record for largest ticketed concert in U.S. history with over 110,000 people in attendance, edging out the Grateful Dead's longstanding title run with over 107,000 attendees at a 1977 show in New Jersey. Strait's concert at Texas A&M's Kyle Field in College Station saw a large influx of concertgoers filling up local businesses and hotels in anticipation for the historic show.

The 58th Annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 20 on ABC. It streams the following day on Hulu.