George Strait is Billboard’s No. 1 ranked artist on their top 25 list for country music artists from the last 25 years.

The list headed by Strait includes Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks in the top 5. Billboard compiled the list to celebrate country music’s big week with the CMT Music Awards and Billboard’s Country Summit. They combed the Top Country Albums and Billboard Hot Country Songs charts to come up with a ranking of the top 25 country music artists from the past 25 years, from 1985 to 2010.

Strait is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and holds several Billboard all-time records. He has had 44 No. 1 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart. It is the most from any artist over the 64 year history of the chart. In September 2006 Strait became number one when his single “Give It Away” hit No. 1, becoming his 41st overall, moving Conway Twitty, previous record holder, into the No. 2 spot. Strait has also had 82 singles in the top 10. He is in second place behind Eddy Arnold who had 92 top 10 hits. Strait is the only musician in Billboard history to have top 10 singles thirty years in a row (1981-2010).

Billboard’s ranking for Top Country Artists 1985-2010 was based on actual performances on the charts Top Country Albums and Hot Country Songs for the time period of January 5, 1985 to May 29, 2010. The inverse point system used to rank the artists gives greater weight to weeks spent at No. 1, while weeks on the lower part of the chart earn less value.

A soirée the size of Texas is being planned for honoring George Strait as Artist of the Decade from the Academy of Country Music.

A concert will take place on April 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and feature a lineup of all stars including Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith and Faith Hill. CBS-TV will be airing the concert later on.

The concert tickets, which cost $100-$200, are available through Ticketmaster to the general public. Proceeds will be benefiting ACM Charitable Fund.

The celebration honoring the 25 year musical career of Strait’s will be held the day following the ACM 44th annual Awards ceremony. It will be broadcast from MGM Grand live. The country star this year has been nominated for four awards: Male Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, for “Troubador” Video of the Year, and for “I Saw God Today” Song of the Year. Strait has now received 78 nominations and won 19 awards.

The nominations from ACM came only days after Strait won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance for “Troubadour,” the title track from his newest album.

Released last April, the set debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 chart and spawned the highest debuting single of Strait’s career, “I Saw God Today.” “River of Love,” his latest hit song, marks the 80th Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot Country songs chart.

A spring/summer trek has been scheduled by Strait, as he continues supporting “Troubadour”. The outing will kick off in Hidalgo, TX on May 9 and run through July. The trek of 18 cities will feature special guests Julianne Hough and Blake Shelton and stretch from East Coast all the way to the Rocky Mountains with stops in Craven and Calgary for Canadian festivals.

Highlights for the tour include opening the new football stadium with its 80,0000 seating capacity for the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, TX on June 6. Reba McEntire will also be part of the show. On February 28 tickets will be going on sale for the event.

At the CMA Awards last night, George Strait set a record for having the most wins overall in the history of the Country Music Association.

Strait received awards for Single of the Year for “I Saw God Today” and Album of the Year for “Troubadour.” He now has a total of 22 awards.

Strait, during his acceptance speech said, everybody says their fans are the greatest. Well I really do have the greatest fans.

Entertainer of the Year, the night’s highest honor, went to Kenny Chesney. It was the forth time he has won the award, tying Garth Brooks for the category’s most wins.

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, who were the co-hosts for the gala held at Sommet Center in Nashville, took breaks from their duties in order to accept Female Vocalist and Male Vocalist honors. It was the second win for Paisley in the category. He also won Music Video of the Year for the fourth time for his music video “Waitin’ On a Woman” that features Andy Griffith, the legendary actor.

The award for Underwood was her third Female Vocalist win in a row. The “American Idol” champion, during her acceptance speech, thanked music industry insiders for voting for her.

Underwood said, I got here in a way that was unconventional. You guys really didn’t need to accept me.

Sugarland, who was nominated for Entertainer of the Year for the first time, won Vocal Due of the Year for the second year in a row. Jennifer Nettles, Sugarland’s lead singer, won Song of the Year for the first time for writing “Stay,” a Sugarland single.

Rascal Flatts, with their Vocal Group of the Year award, tied for the most consecutive wins of six with The Statler Brothers. Robert Plant, the rocker, along with Alison Krauss, bluegrass sweetheart, for their “Gone Gone Gone” performance won Musical Event of the Year.

Lady Antebellum won the award for New Artist of the Year. They also performed “Love Don’t Live Here,” their breakout hit.

Other performers bringing the house down included the Eagles, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Sugar Land and Kenny Chesney with The Wailers, the reggae group. Darius Rucker, frontman for Hootie and the Blowfish, performed the country hit “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” off his recent solo album.

A little rock was even infused into this country music event. Kid Rock, anyway. The bad boy from Detroit performed “All Summer Long,” his latest hit with rapper Lil Wayne making a surprise visit.

Another highlight from the event included a Shania Twain appearance. According to a recent press release Twain hadn’t participated in a CMA Award ceremony since 2005. The singer won Entertainer of the Year and was given a standing ovation.

George Strait is being honored on April 6 by the Academy of Country Music as Artist of the Decade. According to a recent press release, the presentation will be held in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena. It will be the first time that the award for Artist of the Decade will be presented during a televised event.

The award presentation for Strait will follow the Academy of Country Music’s 44th Annual Awards ceremony held the day before and broadcast from MGM live. CBS will be broadcasting The Artist of the Decade ceremony later.

From November 6-20 tickets for the two events will be available for professional members of ACM as well as fans who have associate memberships. After that time period tickets can be purchased without a membership. More information is available on the ACM website for becoming an associate member of ACM as well as ticket purchase codes.