Zach Top Reveals What It Was Like to Hang With Musical Hero George Strait: ‘I Try To Play It Cool’

This year, Zach Top has already checked off a few bucket list items and there’s still more to come. Back in April, he accomplished the impressive feat of getting invited to open for one of his musical heroes, George Strait, at AT&T Stadium in Texas. That night became even more memorable when he got the chance to hang out with the country legend backstage.

While co-hosting a weekend of Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton, Top admitted that getting to step on the stage and warm up the crowd for a legend like Strait was “amazing.”

“Got to hang out with him on his bus, drink a little tequila, and chat with him for a bit. We talked a lot about golf. We’re both frustrated golfers,” Top joked.

Even though he is becoming a successful artist in his own right and has already become a big name in the industry, the Washington native revealed he is still just like any fan and did his best to hide the fact that he was starstruck.

“Any time I get around guys like that, I gotta hold myself back from being a fan.  I try to play it cool and have a normal conversation,” Top shared.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old has even more major opportunities and milestones on the horizon as he continues to build momentum in his career. For starters, his latest album, Ain’t In It For My Health was just nominated for CMA Album of the Year. He is vying for a win in the category alongside Ella Langley with Dandelion, Kacey Musgraves with Middle of Nowhere, Parker McCollum with his self-titled album and Luke Combs with The Way I Am.

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Top explained how much this recognition means to him, noting that taking home the trophy would be a particularly exciting career achievement for him.

“Album and Entertainer are right up there. The album thing, having your whole body of work acknowledged, there’s something cool about that. If not the top one, it’s one of the ones I’d like to win.”

Less than a month before he gets dressed up for a night at The 60th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, November 18 at Bridgestone Arena, Zach Top will step inside the same venue and deliver his first-ever headline show in Nashville. 

Top’s Cold Beer & Country Music Tour is set to wrap up on October 30 with a nearly sold-out stop in Music City.

“Very excited about that. Fun to wrap up the tour in Nashville. We’ve not headlined a show in Bridgestone yet. This will be our first time. We’ll have lots of friends and family,” he told Helton.

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Once the major moments of 2026 wrap up, Top plans to slow things down by spending some time in the studio working on his next record and enjoying some time away from the road by spending plenty of his days spent duck hunting.

His time off will hopefully get him fueled up and ready to embark on more headline shows in 2027 as well as his first-ever headline set at Stagecoach.

“Super honored to do that.  That’s a wild feeling,” he said of the impressive festival slot.

From getting to hang out with icons like George Strait to preparing to headline one of Nashville’s biggest stages and earning some major recognition along the way, Zach Top’s career continues to gain more and more momentum.