Multi-Platinum selling country artist Scotty McCreery was officially welcomed into the Grand Ole Opry family tonight by Opry member Josh Turner who was joined by a surprise guest, Country Music Hall of Famer and Opry member Randy Travis.
McCreery performed his Top 6 and climbing single, “Cab in a Solo,” “Fall of Summer” from his upcoming album Rise and Fall and Travis’ iconic “Three Wooden Crosses” before being joined onstage by his friends and heroes, Turner and Travis.
“I stand here tonight proud of the fact that I bridged the gap between the generation of Randy Travis and Scotty McCreery,” shared Turner. “Only time will tell who will be inspired by Scotty.”
After sharing the chorus of the George Jones classic “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes,” an emotional Turner continued, “Scotty is not only a fine singer and a songwriter but he’s a great man, husband, and now father. I’m proud of him and I’m proud that he is filling the shoes of the artists before him. With artists like him, country music is in great shape.”
Turrner then presented the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry with his official Opry Member Award and passed the mic for remarks and reflections from the night’s honoree.
“If you’ve listened to any of my interviews over the last 15 years of doing this, they’d say, ‘what is your biggest goal?’ and I’d always say, ‘One day I wanna be a member of the Grand Ole Opry,’” shared McCreery. “I gotta go home and start writing a new bucket list.”
Pointing to his 18-month-old son Avery in the audience and holding back tears, McCreery added, “He might not understand tonight but one day I’ll be able to tell him, ‘Hey buddy, this was your daddy’s dream and it came true.’”
McCreery capped the poignant night with a tender performance of his first No. 1 hit, “Five More Mintues”, which he debuted on the Opry stage in 2016.
McCreery’s Opry induction and performance will air as a Saturday night Opry Live later this spring on the Opry Facebook and YouTube channels, streaming free on the Circle Now app, and via Circle Country digital streaming partners.
While performing on an Opry Country Christmas show in December, McCreery was surprised onstage by Opry member Garth Brooks who wished him “Merry Christmas” and went on to officially invite him to be the newest member of the Opry family. WATCH THE INVITATION MOMENT HERE
L to R: Opry host Bill Cody; George Couri (Founder, Triple 8 Management and Founding Partner, Triple Tigers Records), Josh Turner, Randy Travis, Bill Anderson, Scotty McCreery, Scott Stem (McCreery's manager, Triple 8 Management); Gina Keltner, Associate Producer, Talent, Grand Ole Opry; Dan Rogers, Sr Vice President/Executive Producer, Grand Ole Opry. | Photo Credit: Chris Hollo
The Triple Tigers recording artist, who just earned a CMT Music Award for Digital-First Performance of the Year, will release his new album Rise and Fall on May 10. He wrote 12 of the 13 songs on the album, including his current hit “Cab in a Solo,” the fastest moving single of his career which garnered his most first-week adds at country radio (120) and is currently Top 6 in Mediabase. Stream “Cab in a Solo” HERE. McCreery is also touring across the country throughout the year. Tour dates and ticket information can be found at ScottyMcCreery.com.
On May 11, McCreery will return to perform at the Opry just one day after he releases his new album Rise and Fall. The first 400 ticketholders who purchase the album in the Opry Shop that evening will gain access to an exclusive album release celebration and acoustic performance with Scotty directly following the show in the Opry House’s Studio A.
T Graham Brown, invited by Vince Gill to join the Opry during a taping of his Sirius XM show “Live Wire” in February is scheduled to be inducted into the Opry on Friday, May 3. Among artists scheduled to appear on the Opry in the coming weeks are Lauren Alaina, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Henry Cho, Vince Gill, The Isaacs, Chris Janson, Jelly Roll, Jamey Johnson, Lady A, Kathy Mattea, Ashley McBryde, Craig Morgan, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Carrie Underwood, Anne Wilson, and Charlie Worsham, among many others.
Tickets are on sale now for at (615) 871-OPRY and opry.com.
Scotty McCreery was officially welcomed in to the Grand Ole Opry family tonight by Opry member Josh Turner who was joined by a surprise guest, Country Music Hall of Fame Member Randy Travis with wife Mary. | Photo Credit: Chris Hollo
About Scotty McCreery:
Scotty McCreery has been a household name for nearly half his life, ever since making history in 2011 as both the first country artist and the youngest male artist of any genre to debut his first studio album, the Platinum-certified Clear as Day, at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The 30-year-old has sold more than 4 million albums and achieved 5 consecutive No.1 hits: the RIAA Platinum-certified “Damn Strait,” the RIAA Gold certified “You Time,” the RIAA Gold certified “In Between,” the RIAA Platinum certified “This is It,” and the RIAA Triple Platinum certified ‘Five More Minutes.” His current single “Cab in a Solo,” which McCreery wrote with Frank Rogers and Brent Anderson, is from a forthcoming album due out in 2024. The North Carolina native has earned one Triple Platinum, five Platinum and four Gold singles; one Platinum and two Gold albums; won the 10th season of “American Idol” in 2011 at age 17; was named the ACM New Artist of the Year in 2011; won two CMT Music Awards (one in 2012 for Breakthrough Video of the Year (“The Trouble with Girls”) and a second in 2024 for Digital-First Performance of the Year (for “It Matters to Her” from “CMT Stages”); and BMI Awards for writing One of the Top 50 Country Songs of the Year five times (in 2015 for “See You Tonight,” in 2018 for “Five More Minutes,” in 2019 for “This is It,” in 2021 for “In Between,” and in 2022 for “You Time”). He was awarded Pandora Billionaire status in 2021 in recognition of his music achieving more than one billion streams on Pandora. His song “Five More Minutes” inspired two popular holiday movies which aired on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Network: “Five More Minutes” in 2021 and “Five More Minutes: Moments Like These” in 2022. He released his first book Go Big or Go Home: The Journey Toward the Dream in 2016. His most recent album is Same Truck: The Deluxe Album. Last fall McCreery was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and was most recently invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Garth Brooks. The singer/songwriter married his high school sweetheart Gabi in 2018, and the couple had their first son Avery in October 2022. For more information, visit ScottyMcCreery.com.
About the Grand Ole Opry: The Grand Ole Opry is the home of country music where artists and fans gather, in person and virtually, to celebrate and be part of country’s past, present and future. Founded in Nashville in 1925 and today the longest-running live broadcast show in the world, the Opry strengthens its roots by constantly evolving. The Opry’s members are country’s most emblematic artists, and the show regularly showcases country music’s top new talent. The Opry welcomes legions of fans to visit the Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA – to experience one of the 3-5 live shows it hosts per week; take a backstage tour; listen to live broadcasts on opry.com and wsmonline.com, SiriusXM Willie’s Roadhouse, or its flagship home WSM Radio; and watch Opry Live on Saturday nights and Opry content all week long on the Circle Network. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP) and part of a strategic investment with Atairos and NBCUniversal. For more information, visit opry.com.