George Strait has been announced by team officials as the headliner for the opening event at the new football stadium of the Dallas Cowboys. Reba McEntire will be joining Strait for the opening event on June 6 for the 80,000 seating capacity venue located in Arlington, TX. Dancer/singer Julianne Hough and songwriter/singer Blake Shelton will also be on hand. Show tickets will be going on sale on February 28.

The heat has just been turned up by George Strait for his spring/summer trek. He has added Blake Shelton, one of the Sexiest Men Alive according to People magazine. Shelton will be joining Julianne Hough, two time champion of the “Dancing With The Stars” competition and previously announced opener for Strait’s shows. The trek will kick off in Hidalgo, TX on May 9.

George Strait, who is fresh from receiving several Grammy nominations for “Troubadour,” his latest album, has started to map out next year’s tour plans. The country superstar won’t be hitting the road until mid spring. He will kick a run of shows off in Hidalgo, TX on May 9, with dates continuing for June as well as July. In addition Strait has lined up appearance for a few of the big events held in the summer. He will be in Calgary, Alberta on July 11 at the Calgary Stampede. On July 18 Strait will be in Cheyenne, WY for Frontier Days.

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.

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.

“Troubadour,” the new set from George Strait, sold a total of 166,000 copies for its debut week, giving the country superstar his fourth career No. 1 album. “Accelerate” by R.E.M. entered Billboard’s 200 chart in the No. 2 spot, selling 115,000 copies. “NOW 27,” the multi-artist hit compilation album rose two spots into the No. 3 spot with 60,000 copies sold. The flagship album chart for Billboard is based on retail reports from Nielsen SoundScan.