King George is not about to relinquish his crown.
Beating out nearly 50 other country artists, George Strait won the inaugural Country Shore Country Music Artist Tournament in which fans voted who would move on and who would go home.
Strait, who turned 62 last year, went head-to-head with Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson and Erich Church in the finals.
Perhaps the outcome is not surprising.
He is, after all, the King of Country Music.
But no one even came close to dethroning Strait.
Fans voted on each matchup via Facebook and Instagram by leaving comments.
The overwhelming support for Strait stemmed from the fans' desire to see "old country" stem the tide against the growing direction the genre has taken toward pop in the last few years.
Interestingly, Strait did just that early in his career, earning fame as the country artist who brought country "back to its roots" after his genre had strayed toward pop in the 1980s.
In total, the tournament lasted more than a month and garnered more than 200,000 responses.
The biggest upset in the tournament came in the first round when fans voted The Band Perry over Luke Bryan.
But Strait's victory shouldn't surprise anyone as the three-time entertainer of the year has amassed countless awards and 60 number one hits in his career.
Cody Swann
Author