George Strait, with tickets going on sale on Saturday July 23 for his tour this fall, is preparing for another round of dates along with Lee Ann Womack and Reba McEntire backing last year’s album “Twang.”

Strait, who has spent the last few months touring the nation’s western half, will kick off a run of 11 cities in Columbus, OH on September 9.  The trek is currently scheduled to end in Fargo, ND on October 22.

Tickets for opening night of the tour will go on sale via Ticketmaster on Saturday July 23.  In upcoming weeks ticket will also be going on sale for the other dates.

According to Pollstar, the first leg on the Strait/McEntire tour brought in $29.8 million, which made it the fifth best grossing tour for 2010’s first half.

Strait is continuing to support “Twang,” his chart topping 26th album, which was released to stores last summer.  The performer earlier this month released the album’s latest single, “The Breath You Take,” which was his 91st career single.

McEntire is touring ahead of her upcoming new album,.  It will become available on November 9.  The set has yet to be named, but will be a followup to “Keep On Loving You,” released last year.  Her new single is “Turn on the Radio.”

The entertainment industry, due to poor economic conditions, is feeling lots of stress and strain.  Major tours and former billable headliners have experienced declining tickets sales and had to cancel tour dates.

The Eagles (with Keith Urban and Dixie Chicks), Rihanna and Lilith Fair are among the artists and tours that have had to cancel because of poor ticket sales.

There are however, despite a gigantic 17 percent decline this year in ticket sales, a few Country artists that have managed to still make it to the top of Pollstar’s 2010 tours list.

The list was headed by Bon Jovi.  Their concerts have brought in almost $53 million.  The tour of Carole King’s brought in $41 million at No. 2.  Taylor Swift was at No. 3 with $34 million.  Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, held down the No. 4 spot bringing in over $31 million.  The top five was rounded out by the George Strait and Reba McEntire tour which brought in nearly $30 million.

With one tour complete and another one still in progress, Braid Paisley is No. 16  for his completed tour “American Saturday Night” and the currently in progress tour “H20.”

In recent years country music has continued to increase in popularity.  Some of the Country Music artists who have best selling tour acts over the last decade include Brooks & Dunn, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney.

Swift is taking a break of several months from the road to work on a new album.  However McEntire and Strait (with Lee Ann Womack as the opener) will stay out on the road through this fall.

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.

This fall, George Strait will be performing a run of concerts, including 11 visits across the U.S along with some of the top stars of country music.

Lee Ann Womack and Reba McEntire will be joining Strait during his first show. The concert will be held in Columbus, Ohio on September 9.

The tour will have shows in Minnesota, New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee before wrapping up on October 22 at Fargo, North Dakota.

Strait will also re-release the DVD “George Strait Live,” which includes 1980s concert footage. The DVD also captures Strait performing with Ace in the Hole Band at Dallas Reunion Arena in 1986 on New Year’s eve.

Bonus special music videos are also featured on the DVD, including “Living for the Night,” “She’ll Leave You With a Smile,” “Check Yes or No,” “The Chair” and “Amarillo by Morning.”

The “George Strait Live” DVD is be sold exclusively through Wal-Mart. It will become available on June 15.

George Strait, country superstar entertainer, has proven once again that he can top artists, including himself, from any genre. Fans of Strait’s bought tickets in record numbers for his show on Saturday at San Antonio’s Alamo Dome. The ticket sales numbers for the venue in fact surpassed all others, including his 1997 numbers. The concert this year features special guests Randy Rogers Band, Lee Ann Womack and Reba McEntire. A total of 51,000 tickets have been sold. The George Strait Country Music Festival of 1997 was the previous record holder with 47,000 tickets sold.

Tomorrow morning, a limited amount of additional Alamodome show tickets will be released at 10 am via Ticketmaster phone outlets and www.ticketmaster.com.

George Strait has a career that spans over 30 years. He has more number one singles than any other artist in history with 57 to date. Strait has sold over 68.5 million records, with 33 different multi-platinum or platinum albums. He has the most country music RIAA platinum certifications and for all genres is in third place behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

“Twang,” Strait’s latest CD, debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart as well as Top Country Albums chart. It’s the fourth new release of Strait’s career that has debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart and 13th No. 1 debut on Top Country Albums chart.

Last year, George Strait was named Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music and this year was nominated as Entertainer of the Year by ACM (his 12th) and Top Male Vocalist (his 20th). He holds the all time record for ACM nominations with 81.

Lee Ann Womack has been added to the list of performers for George Strait’s forthcoming headlining tour to support “Twang,” his latest album.

The outing, which will also feature Reba McEntire, will be kicking off in Baltimore on January 26. Dates have been set so far through a performance in Des Moines, IA on April 10 with visits to 18 cites in between.

In a recent press statement Womack said, this is classic country right from the source. I can’t imagine there being a better tour for me to be a part of than with Reba McEntire and George McEntire. I’m not imagining right now.

Womack added, I am trying to decide what I should wear. There’s no way to out spangle Reba or out starch George.

“Twang,” the 26th studio album for Strait, was released in August and hit the No. 1 spot on Top country Albums and Billboard’s 200 charts. The new set follows “Troubadour” from last year. The platinum selling album earlier this year won the Grammy award Best Country Album.

Meanwhile, McEntire will be hitting the road to support her latest studio album “Keep On Loving You,” also released in August. The new set is her first solo album to make it’s debut in the No. 1 position on Billboard’s 200 chart.

Womack released her new single in October, “There Is a God.” It’s a lead off for Womack’s forthcoming and still untitled seventh studio album, scheduled to be released early next year. The new single debuted in the No. 60 position on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.

George Strait, who currently is backing his newly released studio album “Twang,” will next year be teaming up with Reba McEntire, fellow country star, for a tour of US arenas.

The outing for the two country award winning stars will be kicking off in Baltimore on January 22 and followed up with visits to 18 cities across the country. The trek will wrap up in Des Moines, IA on April 10.

“Twang,” the 26th studio set from Strait, was released in August where it made it into the No. 1 spots on both the Top Country Albums and Billboard 200 chart. The new set follows his album from last year, “Troubadour.” Earlier this year the platinum selling set won the Best Country Album Grammy award.

According to a recent press release, Strait’s fifty seven No. 1 country music singles, is the most of any singer in history. Strait has been nominated as Entertainer of the Year from the CMA Awards.

In April Strait was honored by the Academy of Country Music as their Artist of the Decade in Las Vegas at a concert full of all stars. Strait told the audience at the event who had gathered to see him accept the award, it’s like a farewell deal almost. But I’m not ready to go just yet.

In the meantime, McEntire will be touring to support “Keep On Loving You,” the most recent studio album of hers. It was released in August as well and marked her first album to debut in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart.

Last month McEntire was nominated as Favorite Female Country Artist from the American Music Awards. It was the 23rd nomination in her career. She has won 15 awards, holding the most wins for a Female Country Artist in the 37 year history of the award ceremony.

The American Music Awards for 2009 will be taking place on November 22 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC.

“Twang,” the new album from George Strait, country superstar, during the first week it was out in stores outsold all of the competition.

“Twang” sold 155,000 copies during its first week and became the first set since the death of Michael Jackson to top both Top Comprehensive Albums and Billboard’s 200 charts in the same week. Top Comprehensive Albums contains sales figures for US album sales. Billboard’s 200 features albums that have been released during the last 18 months.

“Number Ones,” the best-of compilation from Michael Jackson, which had previously topped each week the Top Comprehensive Albums chart since the unexpected death of the singer earlier this summer, dropped down to the No. 2 position with 80,000 copies sold this week.

More fresh blood was injected into Billboard’s 200 chart. “Hot August Night/NYC” from Neil Diamond, a live DVD/CD set that is sold exclusively at Sam’s Club and WalMart stores, made its debut at No. 2 with 57,000 copies sold in its first week.

“The E.N.D.” by the Black Eyed Peas came in at No. 3, selling 45,000 copies. “Hot Mess” from Cobra Starship debuted at No. 4 on the chart with 42,000 copies sold. “Only By the Night” from Kings of Leon remained in the No. 5 spot, falling just short of the sales total from Cobra Starship.

The Top 10 was rounded out with a hits compilation “Now 31” in the No. 6 slot with nearly 39,000 copies sold; “BLACKsummers’night” from Maxwell was No. 7 with just over 38,000 copies sold; “Leave This Town” from Daughtry sold nearly 38,000 copies to take the No. 8 spot; “Fearless” from Taylor Swift sold 37,000 copies for No. 9; and the self titled debut from Justin Moore sold 34,000 copies for No. 10.

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.