George Strait named ACMA’s Artist of the Decade

After nearly three decades of making music and No. 1 singles, George Strait has been named the Academy of Country Music Awards’ Artist of the Decade. “It’s about damn time,” former reining ACMA Artist of the Decade, Garth Brooks, said. Strait was given the honor Monday night during an elaborate ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The event will be broadcast on CBS next month. The 56-year-old star joins Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Alabama and Garth Brooks as the fifth ACMA Artist of the Decade award winner. “It's kind of ironic to be standing up here getting ready to present this award to the man who’s fully responsible for where I’m at today,” Brooks said. “It is an honor to pass the torch to the man who I believe has carried the torch for country music for the last 30 years,” he said. Fellow country icons Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift were among those who performed during Monday night’s tribute, along with 11 other acts and A-list stars. “He was one of the singers who made me want to move to Nashville,” Jackson said of his country-singing colleague. Jackson, who played a show in Primm on Friday, said Strait has withstood the test of time. Strait has enjoyed 57 number one hits during his more than a quarter century of performing. Thirty-four of his 38 albums have gone platinum or multi-platinum, and the former cattle rancher has been nominated for more Country Music Association and ACMA awards than anyone else...Las Vegas Sun