Today Opry NextStage announced its third annual “Opry NextStage Live” at the Grand Ole Opry House will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The Opry-style show will showcase country music’s top rising artists who are part of the Opry NextStage program. Reigning ACM, CMA and People’s Choice Country Female Artist of The Year and 2021 Opry NextStage alum Lainey Wilson will host and perform.
Additional artists featured on the lineup include NextStage Class of 2023 members Ashley Cooke, Chapel Hart, Corey Kent, ERNEST, Jackson Dean and Kameron Marlowe. Tickets will be available through an exclusive pre-sale on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. CT. General public on-sale will begin Friday, Oct. 20 at 10 a.m. CT at opry.com.
"Opry NextStage holds a special place in my heart because it's all about giving talented, emerging artists the spotlight they deserve,” said Wilson. “I know how it feels to chase a dream in this town, and the Opry has always championed up-and-coming artists like me. I am honored to have been a part of the NextStage community, and I can’t wait to share the stage with these awesome artists.”
Since 2019, the NextStage program has introduced new talent to the country music fan base and featured artists such as Wilson, Riley Green, Parker McCollum and Tenille Townes, who all went on to earn ACM New Male or New Female Artist of the Year trophies the year following their NextStage inclusion. Other NextStage alumni include Priscilla Block, BRELAND, Niko Moon, Megan Moroney, Ian Munsick, Restless Road, Nate Smith and Hailey Whitters, among others.
For more information and a full list of Opry NextStage artists, visit opry.com/nextstage.
About Opry NextStage
Developed by Opry Entertainment Group and the Grand Ole Opry, Opry NextStage invests in the discovery of new artists with featured original content, Opry performances and support across the brand’s platforms to help tell their stories and expand their audiences. For nearly a century, the Grand Ole Opry has created opportunities for artists throughout the Country music spectrum to make strong connections with fans and fellow artists – on its stages and across its channels – from terrestrial radio to network television to the digital universe and to Circle Network. The Opry has helped launch the careers of countless artists, including Roy Acuff, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe and Dolly Parton, to name a few. Award-winning group Little Big Town made its very first public appearance as a group on the Opry stage in 1999, and Carrie Underwood cemented a place in Country music with her first Opry appearance less than two weeks after having been named American Idol in 2005. Audiences around the world look to the Opry to showcase the very best in Country music, and it was with this tradition that Opry NextStage was created.
About Lainey Wilson:
As the leading female nominee and winner at the 2023 ACM awards with, Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of The Year, Visual Media and Musical Event of the Year and reigning CMA 2022 Female Vocalist and New Artist of the Year, Lainey Wilson has earned the enthusiasm of the industry. Critically-acclaimed and touted as a top “artist to watch,” to being crowned the most nominated artist at both the 2023 CMA Awards (with a record breaking nine nominations) and CMT Music Awards, the Louisiana native has made a name for herself in the industry as one of music’s hottest and most buzzed-about new artists. Landing her first No. 1 with her PLATINUM Certified ACM Song of the Year, “Things A Man Oughta Know,” nearly 10 years to the day after leaving her small farming community in a camper trailer to chase her dreams, she has won over legions of fans with her signature Bell Bottom Country sound and aesthetic, which blends traditional Country with a modern yet retro flare. A prolific and sought-after songwriter (having co-writer credits on songs by artists including Luke Combs, Flatland Calvary, and more), Lainey is a fresh, fierce voice in Nashville, delivering CMA-nominated album of the year with her label debut, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin'. With a rockstar stage presence, her artistry has taken her across the globe, performing for sold-out crowds throughout the US, UK, and Germany with notable names like Jon Pardi, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, HARDY, Jason Aldean, Ashley McBryde, and more. After topping the country radio charts for a second time with the two-week No. 1 hit, “Never Say Never” with Cole Swindell, she recently achieved her third and fourth No. 1 song with “Heart Like a Truck” and HARDY collaboration “wait in the truck”. Her current single “Watermelon Moonshine” topped the Country charts marking her fifth No. 1 single and making her the first female artist in two years to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Country airplay chart. Her critically acclaimed album, Bell Bottom Country, reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart, quickly rose to No. 1 on iTunes charts and has amassed over 650 million streams to date. Wilson made her acting debut in Season 5 of the smash hit series Yellowstone as a musician character named Abby, where she premiered her original “Smell Like Smoke” as well as showcased other hits off her recent album including “Watermelon Moonshine” and “Hold My Halo”. Adding to her growing list of endeavors, Wilson was recently named “Tractor Supply Brand Ambassador,” was honored at Billboard’s Women in Music Awards with the Rulebreaker Award, and most recently joined forces with Wrangler as the face of their 2023 fall/winter women's collection.
