After decades of hit records, sold-out concerts, and some of the highest honors in country music, George Strait received a surprisingly late career first on April 11, 2022.
George Strait won a CMT Music Award for the first time. But the winning performance wasn’t one of George Strait’s own famous hits. It was a song made popular more than 50 years earlier by an old friend, Charley Pride.
The award recognized George Strait’s performance of “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” during a television tribute to Charley Pride.
What made that recognition especially meaningful was the history between the two singers. Long before George Strait became the King of Country Music, Charley Pride had already made George Strait feel welcome in a business where newcomers were still trying to prove themselves.
The Country Superstar Who Welcomed a Young George Strait
By the time George Strait began building a career in country music, Charley Pride was already an established star.
Charley Pride had spent the late 1960s and 1970s recording one country hit after another, becoming one of the genre’s most recognizable voices. Songs such as “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me),” “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” and “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” had made Charley Pride a familiar presence on country radio.
George Strait remembered those early encounters long after becoming a superstar.
When Charley Pride died on December 12, 2020, at age 86, George Strait shared a public remembrance of the friendship. George Strait recalled having the privilege of working with Charley Pride early in his career and described how welcoming Charley Pride had been to a newcomer.
It was a small detail, but an important one. George Strait didn’t remember only the records or the fame. George Strait remembered the kindness.
The 1970 Hit That Brought Their Story Together
In February 1970, Charley Pride released “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone,” written by Dave Kirby and Glenn Martin and produced by Jack Clement.
The song tells the story of a heartbroken traveler looking for a ride away from a painful relationship. Charley Pride turned that straightforward country story into a major hit.
In April 1970, the single reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart and remained there for two weeks.
More than half a century later, that same recording became the musical centerpiece of George Strait’s tribute to an old friend.
“When You Stand Next to a Giant, You Stand Taller”
On August 25, 2021, CMT aired CMT Giants: Charley Pride, a 90-minute television special celebrating the life and music of Charley Pride.
The program brought together performers including Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd, Darius Rucker, and George Strait. Charley Pride’s son, Dion Pride, also performed.
George Strait’s contribution carried a particularly personal meaning because of the friendship that had lasted more than four decades.
Reflecting on Charley Pride, George Strait offered a statement that captured that relationship:
“When you stand next to a giant, you stand taller”
George Strait also remembered admiring Charley Pride when the two first met, at a time when Charley Pride was already a superstar and George Strait was just starting out.
Then George Strait performed “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone.”
It was a fitting choice: a Texas country legend singing one of the defining records of another country legend. The performance honored not only Charley Pride’s music, but also a friendship that had endured through decades of changes in country music.
An Unexpected Award in April 2022
On April 11, 2022, the story gained another chapter.
At the CMT Music Awards, George Strait’s tribute performance won CMT Performance of the Year. Remarkably, it was George Strait’s first CMT Music Award.
George Strait did not attend the ceremony in person. Instead, George Strait accepted the award through a recorded video message, thanking the fans who had voted and expressing surprise at the recognition.
George Strait also made clear why the award was particularly special: the winning performance had been a tribute to Charley Pride, a longtime friend. George Strait took the opportunity to acknowledge Charley Pride’s family as well.
That detail completed the story in a way no one could have planned.
Charley Pride had welcomed George Strait when George Strait was a newcomer. More than 40 years later, George Strait honored Charley Pride before a national television audience. Then country music fans voted that tribute into an award-winning performance.
For George Strait, the honor wasn’t simply another trophy added to an extraordinary career. The performance was connected to someone George Strait had admired long before becoming a legend himself.
And for fans who remembered hearing Charley Pride sing “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” back in 1970, George Strait’s performance offered another reason to return to that old favorite.
More than five decades after Charley Pride made the song a No. 1 hit, it was still bringing people together—this time through a friendship that had lasted a lifetime.