George Strait, Chris Stapleton and Parker McCollum kick off the summer with new and old country at Highmark Stadium.

By Matt Volz

Write this down — the King of Country Music is coming back to Buffalo.

On Saturday (June 14), George Strait will bring his classic country style to Highmark Stadium.

The 73-year-old from Poteet, Texas, is known for his straightforward style of singing that spawned hits such as “All My Ex’s Live In Texas,” “Check Yes Or No” and “Amarillo By Morning.”

According to his website, Strait has sold 33 platinum or multi-platinum albums, albums that sold over one or two million times, respectively.

That’s more than any other country artist in history, and Strait’s website boasts that only the Beatles and Elvis Presley sold more.

Strait’s most recent release, an EP titled “Here For A Good Time,” was released on streaming services on May 23 featuring six of his more recognizable hits (and not to be confused with the album he released by that name in 2011).

He comes back to Western New York for the first time since 2000, when he was joined by fellow country music icons Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney.

Some may remember that concert more for what happened afterwards. 

Chesney attempted to ride away on the back of an Erie County Sheriff’s horse, and when confronted by law enforcement, Chesney, McGraw and his manager engaged in a scuffle with police.

McGraw and Chesney were arrested and released on bail, and both were later found not guilty in a court trial of wrongdoing.

Now 25 years later, Strait is returning with two other notable country artists, Chris Stapleton and Parker McCollum.

Stapleton mixes contemporary country with his bluegrass roots, having grown up in a small town in eastern Kentucky.

The Grammy Award-winning artist has released favorites like “Tennessee Whiskey” (a soulful remake of a George Jones hit) and “Traveller.”

Those two songs inspired Stapleton to partner with Buffalo Trace Distillery, a Kentucky-based company, to create a brand of whiskey called Traveller Whiskey.

For sports fans, Traveller is the official whiskey of Major League Baseball.

It’s also fun to note that another one of Stapleton’s hit songs, “White Horse,” was used by former Sabres forward Dylan Cozens as his goal song, alluding to Cozens’s hometown of Whitehorse, Yukon, in Canada.

On a happier note than Buffalo’s depression-inducing hockey team, McCollum will round out the lineup of country music stars.

McCollum is a newer voice in the country scene, comparatively speaking.

Although his debut album, “The Limestone Kid,” was released in 2015, the Academy of Country Music Awards recognized him as its New Male Artist of the Year in 2022.

Some of his songs have surpassed 150 million plays on Spotify, including the slow ballad “Hell of a Year” and the slightly more upbeat “Pretty Heart.”

McCollum just released a single titled “Killin’ Me” on Tuesday (June 10). 

The new song will be featured on the artist’s self-titled album, which is set to release on Friday, June 27.

McCollum will open the show at 5:45 p.m. with a short setlist likely to include “Pretty Heart.” Here is his set from a Philadelphia show last month. 

He’ll be followed by Stapleton at 7:15 p.m., whose setlist featured 18 songs at a recent show in Pittsburgh on May 31.

Strait will take the stage at 9:15 p.m., and he’ll play roughly 30 songs to finish up at 11:15 p.m. Here is his setlist from a recent Pittsburgh show. 

Doors open at 4:15 p.m., and all start times are according to WYRK.

If you’re a country music lover, what better way to kick off your summer than a rocking night of honky tonk tunes?