Would you believe it if I said that George Strait quit country music? Unbelievably, the country legend gave up after facing resistance, but someone out there convinced him to get back on the saddle. And what a miracle they did.
Videos by Wide Open Country
According to an interview the country singer did, we know which beacon in his life turned his future around.
Many die-hard fans may know that George Strait played in the Ace In The Hole Band as the lead singer in his early 20s. With this band, he got to live out his dream of performing, and the band played pretty regularly, although not for much money.
Strait played in the band for four years while he worked as a ranch manager in Martindale, Texas. However, he soon faced rejection. He was invited to Nashville to sing on some demo recordings, but was shockingly "too country" to be taken on.
As his band was going nowhere, and in the face of rejection, he gave up performing in 1979. He was also expecting his second child and needed more money. Quitting the band allowed him to get a full-time job.
But there was someone in his life, who you could probably guess, who pulled him out of his rut. His wife, Norma.
George Strait Encouraged To Try Country Music Again After Quitting
Norma also spoke on the interview. She said that she noticed a change in her husband immediately after giving up music. As you can imagine, it was an incredibly tough decision to make. Dealing with the thought that he wasn't good enough also would have weighted heavily on him.
Apparently, Strait was moping around their San Marcos house, defeated. He was more difficult to get along with, and she "didn't want to live in Uvalde with him like that."
Struggling to see her husband so down, she "wanted him to give it one more chance."
A week before he had to report in to his new job, Norma convinced him to give music one more year.
"Norma has always been very supportive," Strait said of his wife. "Success is something she always wanted for me, because she knew how bad I wanted it."
With a new-found stride in his step, he rejoined the band and fought even harder for attention from the top dogs in the industry. And the rest is history.
