By the time Whispering Bill Anderson asked the crowd full Grand Ole Opry To toast Friday night, the country music institution was working to quickly improve the situation. The early show – the first of two on the evening of the Opry's official 100th anniversary – ran a half-hour longer than planned, and most of the nearly 30 artists who took the stage to celebrate stayed for the second performance, but the moment was as important as anything that happened on stage.
“For 1925 and everything that went on,” Anderson, 88, said. “Until 2025 and all that comes, and one hundred years from tonight, and all that may be, long live the Grand Ole Opry.”
Moments earlier, the same artists that Anderson, who is the oldest member of the Opry with 64 years under his belt, led in raising their glasses, capped the nearly three-hour presentation with a performance of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” led by Steven Curtis Chapman and a choir that included the likes of Anderson, Vince GillLorrie Morgan, Pam Tillis, Jamie Johnson and Ricky Skaggs.
The concert fell on the anniversary of the Opry's first performance in 1925. Skaggs started things off by playing “Tennessee Wagoner” on the same fiddle that Uncle Jimmy Thompson played the first note of that first show. Afterwards, many of the participants paid homage to the Opry's roots in country, bluegrass, gospel and comedy.
Scotty McCreeryMandy Anderson, T. Graham Brown and Mark Wills performed a cover of George Jones' “Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes” to set the theme for the evening. With tears in his eyes, Anderson dedicated a “Thank You” to the fans gathered at the Grand Ole Opry House. Lorrie Morgan sang “Something in Red,” and Katie Mattea and Susie Boggus traded acoustic versions of some of their best-known songs. Gary Mule Dear and Henry Cho performed comedy numbers, and Marty Stewart led both the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band and the Opry Square Dancers in bluegrass numbers.
Rachel Black
Fans saw the Opry's machine production process in full swing, a far cry from the day's rehearsals, as McCreery and Brown spent several minutes finding the exact key to “Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes” and Wills did a dry run of his intro for a cover of “Wabash Cannonball.” The onstage banter was brief, but the crowd saw a constant backdrop of video montages of historical moments or artists being surprised by membership on stage. In Opry fashion, the gift shop also featured one-night-only items, such as an anniversary-themed diamond vinyl.
“I would say it took everything we had,” says show producer Nicole Judd of the behind-the-scenes work that went into the birthday celebration. “We've been celebrating this milestone since October of last year. It's been years in the making. We've been talking about this centenary year for years. We really started planning hard a couple of years ago, and we knew that once we hit that October, we'd have our feet on the ground.”
The evening atmosphere seen in front of the house contrasted sharply with the collegial atmosphere of the family reunion behind the scenes. There are actually two Oprys in country music. Fans see a carefully crafted combination of corporate structure and country music history, but even the few who sign up for behind-the-scenes tours when the Opry shows end get only a glimpse of the second Opry. This is what happens behind the scenes. This is the Opry that the artists who play there love.
Rachel Black
It is here that Gill serves as the de facto leading man from the dressing room that the late Roy Acuff performed in the same role. On Friday night, Gill greeted passersby with, “Hi, I'm Vinnie Acuff. Nice to see you, sir,” and joked that he hoped Anderson wouldn't whisper during the toast.
Backstage at the Opry is a collection of country music artifacts that would fit in any hall of fame: Minnie Pearl's hat. The shoes McCreary wore when he was inducted. Historical programs and a handwritten list of the Grand Ole Opry's “ten ugliest men” will be available Friday. Skaggs carried Thompson's violin with him almost everywhere he went, including on the red carpet in a makeshift studio behind the stage.
As Johnson, who performed his hit “In Color” during the show, walked the red carpet, he said, “The first time I played the Opry, suddenly there was a time before and a time after.”
As Pam Tillis walked the carpet and was handed a photo of herself and her father Mel Tillis at the Opry, she teared up and said, “In the words of Hank Williams Jr., I'm carrying on the family tradition, but not the smoking part.”
Rachel Black
It's this relationship between artist and institution that has led Opry management to spend recent years connecting a younger generation of artists with the circle at the center of its stage. Thanks to OpryNext, rising stars like Kaitlyn Butts, Winchester, 49, and Wyatt Flores have made several appearances at the Opry this year. Opry Vice President Dan Rogers Says Rolling Stone that such a move is intended to ensure the celebration of the 200th anniversary when the time comes.
“I'm not exaggerating when I reach out to people in the dressing room and thank them for being here, and then I look at them on stage and think, 'This is the future of country music and the future of the Grand Ole Opry.'
For much of the 20th century, it was Gill who most often connected Opry fans and the Opry behind the scenes. His heartfelt performances of songs like “Go Rest High on That Mountain” and “When I Call Your Name” alone account for dozens of highlights for ticket holders. Naturally, he also provided the crescendo of Friday's birthday celebration when he took the stage near the end of the show to play a tune voted by fans as the best country song of all time.
“I'm going to try this song that no one but George Jones should sing, but I'll try my best,” Gill said. Then he started “He stopped loving her today.”
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose book (Almost) Almost famous will be released April 1st from Back Lounge Publishing.
