Stars Pay Tribute To King George

The stars came out in Las Vegas last night to pay tribute to the Academy of Country Music‘s Artist of the Decade, Mr. George Strait.

As the reigning Artist of the Decade, Garth Brooks presented Strait with the honor, telling the crowd that King George was the one who had inspired him to head for a career in country music. Speaking of hearing Strait’s song “Unwound,” Brooks said “From that very second I knew what I wanted to be. It was so easy and it didn’t seem that far away. I wanted to be George Strait.”

Taylor Swift took to the stage to perform Strait’s “Run” and did a little story-telling of her own. “When I was 16 I went on my first tour, as opening act for George Strait. I’d never been on a big stage before or sung in an arena. I asked him if he had advice about performing in the round. He said, ‘Yes, I do.’ I sensed that I needed to ask a follow-up question. So I said ‘How do you do that?’ He said, ‘Just do it for 25 years and it will feel real natural.’”

The stories and tributes for Strait continued throughout the evening, and new ACM Award winner Jamey Johnson was able to walk away from the evening with a special momento of his own. After performing “Give It Away” with Lee Ann Womack – a song that Johnson wrote and Strait took to the top of the charts – Johnson walked over and approached Strait with his guitar for an autograph. Johnson explained “I’ve just never been in a situation where I had the guitar and George at the same place at the same time.”

Strait concluded the evening by telling the crowd “I’ve played in here quite a few times, and I’ve never been this nervous,” as he led his fellow country stars in a sing-a-long of his smash hit “Troubador.”

The event was taped for a TV special that will air on May 27 on CBS.

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