George Strait to Play 2 Las Vegas Shows With Ashley McBryde

George Strait will play two shows in Las Vegas in 2019! The King of Country announces he will perform at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Feb. 1 and 2, with Ashley McBryde serving as his opening act.

Strait announced his retirement in 2012, wrapping up his final The Cowboy Rides Away Tour on June 7, 2014. After Strait’s final major tour, the Texan played six shows in 2016, followed by ten shows in 2017. In 2018, Strait launched his Strait to Vegas trek, which included a sold-out show in New Orleans, two nights in Tulsa and a night in Austin. Strait to Vegas will culminate with two final shows on Dec. 7 and 8, also at T-Mobile Arena.

Strait has a record-breaking 60 No. 1 singles to his credit, with more than 70 million albums sold. But it hasn’t all been easy for the singer. Strait, whose 13-year-old daughter Jenifer was killed in a car accident in 1986, tragically lost his longtime drummer and friend, Mike Kennedy, in an accident in September. Kennedy played in Strait’s Ace in the Hole band for three decades.

“Hard to put into words how much Mike’s passing has affected us all,” Strait wrote on social media following Kennedy’s death. Our hearts are broken. It’s going to be very strange not being able to look over and see him there in his spot on stage and very emotional as well I’m sure for all of us and also his fans. The band will never be the same. A part of us is gone forever.

“We all loved Mike and will miss him terribly,” he added. He was just as solid a friend to us all as he was a drummer, and that was damn solid. Our hearts and prayers are with his family. The Lord has him now. Rest In Peace my friend.”

It was after Jenifer’s death that the notoriously private singer decided to stop doing interviews – a policy he has largely upheld throughout his illustrious career.

“I just didn’t feel like talking about it, so I quit…I did want to keep singing, absolutely,” Strait admitted to The New Yorker in 2017, recalling the time after Jenifer’s passing. “But I was at the point where I’m, ‘All right, if this is going to cost me my career, then so be it, but it’s the only way I’m going to be able to cope with it.’ It just kind of turned out the way it did. It wasn’t an intentional thing.”

Strait’s 2019 Vegas shows come during a busy time for McBryde. The “Radioland” singer is headlining her own Girl Going Nowhere Tour, and will then join Little Big Town as their opening act for the Canadian run of their The Breakers Tour.

More information on Strait’s shows can be found at StraittoVegas.com.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Grady E. Adkins for EB Media PR