Announced on May 15 on the RODEOHOUSTON Facebook page (to a group of adoring fans who can’t wait for next year to roll around!), the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will be welcoming George Strait as its headliner for the 2019 event. Scheduled for February 25 to March 19, 2019, a press release for next year’s event stated that an “extra day and a concert-only performance by country music entertainer and icon George Strait” could be expected for the 2019 RODEOHOUSTON. This brings the event to a full schedule of 21 days and Strait to his 30th RODEOHOUSTON® performance.
“We are extremely excited to welcome George Strait back to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo,” Joel Cowley, Rodeo president and CEO stated in the release. “George has a long history with the Rodeo, first taking the stage back in 1983. He’s been with us through many of our major milestones during the past three decades, has entertained more than 1.5 million RODEOHOUSTON fans and is the only platinum honoree on our Star Trail of Fame.”
Photo: Facebook/George Strait
As promised, the RODEOHOUSTON website stated that Strait will return to RODEOHOUSTON on Sunday, March 17. The event will be a “…full-length evening concert in NRG Stadium,” and it’s recognized as the only Texas performance for the King of Country Music in 2019. His opening acts are going to be announced at a future date. Although there will be no rodeo performance scheduled for that date, all other activities which are located on the grounds will be open to the public, including shopping and dining sections, the carnival, exhibits and attractions, and the livestock and horse show competitions.
It was in 1983 when Strait made his first appearance at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, resulting from the headlining act (Eddie Rabbit) falling ill with the flu. Since then, performing at RODEOHOUSTON has become a mainstay for the King of Country Music, who has sold more than 100 million albums around the world. Inducted into the RODEOHOUSTON Star Trail of Fame in 1996, Strait is among a special group of just eight such artists to have received this honor since the first Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo entertainer performance back in 1942. And, in 2013, the Rodeo’s scholarship program awarded the first four-year Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo George Strait Scholarship, in recognition of his friendship and partnership with the renowned Texas event.
