Earlier this year, country music giants like Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire descended upon the Grand Ole Opry to celebrate the vaunted institution’s century-long impact as a cultural touchstone. That celebration will continue with a brand-new Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame exhibit. And the museum has enlisted country stars Vince Gill and Carly Pearce to help launch it.
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Vince Gill Joins Carly Pearce on Panel Marking Grand Ole Opry’s Centennial
On Thursday, Sept. 18, the Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame will kick off its newest exhibit, The Grandest Stage: The Opry at 100. Through March 2027, visitors can learn about the longest-running radio show in the United States. They can also get a close-up look at a variety of artifacts from the Opry’s 100-year history. These include the straw hat Minnie Peal wore for her 1940 debut; Reba McEntire’s custom-made boots from her own 1977 coronation; and Ella Langley’s custom-made suit.
To help launch the exhibit, Vince Gill and Carly Pearce will join Dan Rogers, the Opry’s senior vice president and executive producer for a live panel discussion at the museum’s Ford Theater. Hall of Fame editorial director Paul Kingsbury will moderate the conversation, set for 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Tickets go on sale today (Friday, Aug. 22.) You can reserve yours here.
“It’s His Church”
Still regarded as one of Nashville’s most authentic songwriters, Vince Gill made his Grand Ole Opry debut on June 29, 1989. Two years later, on Aug. 10, 1991, he became one of the youngest to ever gain entry into the Opry at age 34.
[RELATED: On This Day in 1991, Vince Gill Was Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry]
“Most Friday and Saturday nights that Vince is home, he’s out at the Opry,” said Gill’s wife, award-winning Christian singer Amy Grant. “And I always say it’s his church.”
Meanwhile, a young Carly Pearce’s parents caught her on video declaring her intent to one day take the stage at the Grand Ole Opry. At 16, the Kentucky native convinced her parents to let her drop out of high school and move to Pigeon Force, Tennessee, to take a job at Dollywood.
Fifteen years later, the three-time CMA Award winner accepted her Opry invitation from Dolly Parton herself.
Featured image by Ed Rode/Getty Images
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