12 Notable Performers Who Have Graced the Grand Ole Opry Stage
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025, the country music institution has hosted many singers as well as actors and even a U.S. president.
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On November 28, 1925, radio director George D. Hay launched the WSM Barn Dance from Nashville, Tennessee, with a one-hour program featuring 77-year-old fiddle player Uncle Jimmy Thompson. By 1927, it picked up a more majestic alternate title: the Grand Ole Opry.
Approaching a century later, the Opry remains the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history and a country music cornerstone. NBC is celebrating the influential show’s centennial with Opry 100: A Live Celebration on Wednesday night. The concert special is hosted by Blake Shelton and features performances from 25 country artists past and present, including Brad Paisley, Reba McEntire, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and Lainey Wilson.
Watch Opry 100: A Live Celebration on NBC or Peacock at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday
The Opry, which became a national broadcast in 1939, has welcomed more than 200 artists into its membership. This includes early Black country music star DeFord Bailey and 2024 inductee Steven Curtis Chapman. The venue itself, moving to the Ryman Auditorium in 1943 and later the Grand Ole Opry House we know today, is just as influential and carries an almost spiritual aura for musicians who perform there.
With the Opry playing host to so many stars over the years, here are some that made history and others that left a surprising mark on the program’s legacy.
Elvis Presley
First Opry performance: October 2, 1954
Elvis Presley might be the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, but one of his first major performances was on the legendary country stage in 1954. Only 19 at the time, Elvis was hoping to catch his big break with a unique spin on the Bill Monroe song “Blue Moon Over Kentucky.” Unfortunately, he received a chilly reception. According to Graceland, an Opry official reportedly suggested he give up music and become a truck driver. Ouch.
Luckily, Elvis didn’t listen. Only two weeks later, he began to make recurring appearances on the rival radio show Louisiana Hayride and built the fan base that would propel him into stardom.
Dolly Parton
First Opry performance: July 25, 1959
If then-13-year-old Dolly Parton was nervous for her debut as an Opry guest, she didn’t show it. After an introduction from the “Man in Black” himself, Johnny Cash, Parton performed the George Jones song “You Gotta Be My Baby” and received three encores. “As I heard the band play my introduction, I lifted my head and looked up toward the lights. I smiled at the people in the balcony and then let ’er rip,” she said.
Parton, now 79, became an Opry staple, highlighted by her induction in 1969. Fifty years later, she returned for a televised concert celebrating her golden Opry anniversary.
Loretta Lynn
First Opry performance: October 15, 1960
A three-time Grammy winner known for “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and a host of other country hits, Loretta Lynn wasn’t afraid to make a statement on the Opry stage. Inducted in September 1962, Lynn later revealed she was almost banned from the venue over performances of “The Pill,” her controversial 1975 single about a woman using birth control. “If they hadn’t let me sing the song, I’d have told them to shove the Grand Ole Opry!” Lynn said, according to Time.
Another of her memorable performances came in 1979 when she joined actor Sissy Spacek, who portrayed the singer in the 1980 biographical movie also named Coal Miner’s Daughter.
Jeannie Seely
First Opry performance: May 28, 1966
When Jeannie Seely was as young as 4 years old, she listened to Opry broadcasts with her family growing up near Townville, Pennsylvania. Eight decades later, she’s an indelible piece of its history.
Seely, 84, became a member of the Opry in 1967 and has been a regular ever since. She holds the record for most appearances in the program’s history with more than 5,300 as of October 2023. The former Grammy winner also broke barriers for women—becoming the first to wear a miniskirt on the show (leading to a change in dress code) and first to lead a programming section in 1985. No wonder Seely earned the nickname “Miss Country Soul.”
Charley Pride
First Opry performance: January 7, 1967
While Black musician DeFord Bailey made history as the first performer at the newly-named Grand Ole Opry in 1927, Charley Pride became its first Black solo singer almost 40 years later.
Pride, born in March 1934 and considered country’s first Black superstar, sang “The Snakes that Crawl At Night” and “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You).” “I was so nervous I don’t know how I got through those two songs,” Pride said.
The singer was inducted into the Opry in 1993 and remains one of only three Black members in the programs’s history along with Bailey and Darius Rucker.
Richard Nixon
Opry performance: March 16, 1974
With the Opry moving from the Ryman Auditorium to its new home at the Grand Ole Opry House in 1974, the show welcomed one of its most high-profile guests ever: then-President Richard Nixon.
A country music fan, the commander in chief didn’t merely watch the festivities. He led the audience in a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for First Lady Pat Nixon and also played “My Wild Irish Rose” and “God Bless America” on the piano. He remains the only president to perform at the Opry.
The appearance marked a high point for Nixon amid the Watergate scandal. That August, he resigned from office.
Randy Travis
First Opry performance: March 7, 1986
Life changed pretty quickly for Randy Travis after his Opry debut in 1986. His debut album Storms of Life released three months later, and by the end of the year, he was offered membership. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would one day be up there on that stage, in that sacred circle,” he said.
Travis, 65, suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2013 but has released two new songs in the past year with the help of artificial intelligence software. He visited the Opry earlier this month to announce the production of Forever and Ever, Amen, a biopic about his life based on his song of the same name.
Martina McBride
First Opry performance: May 23, 1992
Martina McBride sold T-shirts for then-rising country superstar Garth Brooks but dreamed of her own career on the stage. In 1992, her Opry debut helped make it a reality. She looked the part, wearing white cowboy boots as she performed her first single “The Time Has Come.” She became an Opry member by 1995 and a regular thereafter.
According to 58-year-old McBride, the venue offered valuable mentorship as her career took off. “When I first started coming here, I had artists like Jeannie Seely, Jeanne Pruett, Jan Howard, Connie Smith that really reached out to me and made me feel welcome, and I still see that going on today,” McBride recalled in 2016.
Taylor Swift
First Opry performance: September 1, 2006
Now the biggest pop star on the planet with 12 No. 1 singles and the record-setting Eras Tour on her résumé, Taylor Swift had yet to release her eponymous debut album when she took the Opry stage as a 16-year-old in 2006.
Swift performed “Tim McGraw,” her homage to the country icon, on the show. “It was really awesome. It was so cool. This is the moment that you’re waiting for like the whole life process,” she said. Taylor Swift became a No. 1 country album a year later.
Rather surprisingly, Swift never became a member of the Opry after her pivot from country music and isn’t even credited as a performing artist at the venue. She seems to be doing just fine despite the snub.
Kelsea Ballerini
First Opry performance: February 14, 2015
Kelsea Ballerini, 31, called her Opry debut “the ultimate Valentine’s Day surprise” in an interview with The Tennessean. “I’ve been to the Opry twice as a fan, and it’s so incredible. I can’t believe I get to go from being in the audience to being on the stage. It’s awesome, but really nerve-wracking,” she said.
The singer received another surprise in March 2019 when she was invited to join the Opry. A month later, Carrie Underwood supervised her induction. At the time, 25-year-old Ballerini was the youngest member. That distinction now belongs to Lauren Alaina. Currently lending her expertise as a mentor on The Voice, Ballerini might just find the next young Opry star.
Kiefer Sutherland
First Opry performance: May 31, 2016
Jack Bauer at the Grand Ole Opry?! No, Kiefer Sutherland wasn’t thwarting a dangerous plot like his lead character from 24. But he did play samples from his yet-to-be-released music album Down in a Hole when he took the mic in 2016.
The 58-year-old actor later admitted his hand was “shaking so bad” at the start of his set. “As an actor, I used to funnel all of my nervous energy to my hands because I could put them in my pocket,” he said. “With a guitar player, it doesn’t work so well.”
Ringo Starr
First Opry performance: February 21, 2025
Ringo Starr is proof you’re never too old for your first time at the Opry. The former Beatle fulfilled a lifelong goal by performing at the venue earlier this year at age 84. “As you may have noticed, I dressed up a bit tonight. I’m a cowboy inside,” he said. “This is a great honor and an incredible moment for me. It’s just a dream to end up here.”
Starr mixed the past and present in his set, incorporating his 2025 release “Time On My Hands” and a cover of the Fab Four classic “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Just another example of the Opry’s ability to unite music fans across generations.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
