George Strait to Receive 2024 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award

The Country Music Association is set to honor three-time CMA Award entertainer of the year winner George Strait with the 2024 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during the upcoming 58th annual CMA Awards, which will air on Nov. 20 on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Strait will receive his accolade following a performance from several artists who will celebrate his lasting influence on the genre.

“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.”

During his four-plus decades in music, Strait has earned 33 platinum or multiplatinum albums, and notched 44 No. 1s on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. He won the CMA Award for entertainer of the year in 1989, 1990 and 2013, and has 17 total CMA Awards wins. He is also the most-nominated artist with 83 total CMA Award nominations and membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.

The CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an iconic artist who has attained the highest degree of recognition in country music. The award recognizes those who have achieved both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming numbers, record sales and public representation at the highest level. The artist receiving this award has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of the genre over the course of many years and has proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on fans and industry alike.

Previous recipients of the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award include Nelson (2012), Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Kris Kristofferson (2019), Charley Pride (2020), Loretta Lynn (2021) and Alan Jackson (2022).