George Harvey Strait was born on May 15, 1952, in Poteet, Texas. He was raised on a cattle ranch and spent the summers working on the ranch with his parents, brother and sister. When he was in third grade, his parents divorced. His mother took his sister to live with her, while George and his brother stayed with his father.During high school, Strait was part of a rock band, but soon turned to country music. After high school, he entered college at Southwest Texas State University, but dropped out and eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma, in Mexico.Next, George enlisted in the Army, and was stationed in Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. He began playing in a country band while in the military.After being honorably discharged in 1975, Strait and his family moved back to Texas, where he enrolled once more in Southwest Texas State University, and he graduated with an agriculture degree in 1979.It was while he was at college that he joined the Ace in the Hole band, becoming their lead singer. The band played local clubs, and Strait ran a cattle ranch during the day. He also met and became friends with Erv Woolsey, who had once worked for MCA Records. Woolsey used his Music Row connections to invite some execs to Texas to hear the band play. MCA was impressed with Strait, and signed him to the label. The Ace in the Hole band continued to play with Strait as his backup band.