It took a mere five months for the Grand Ole Opry to overcome devastating floods from last May and return to the home of Country Music Tuesday night. The Grand Ole Opry returned to the refurbished Grand Ole Opry House landmark with a bevy of Country Music stars performing and one getting a surprise invitation to join the Opry.
Brad Paisley and
Little Jimmy Dickens opened the show, playing “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” a tribute to the legacy of the 85-year-old Grand Ole Opry radio show. The radio show never missed a broadcast, and actually the Opry never missed a performance as they moved around to various venues in Nashville. A host of other Country Music stars soon took the stage and joined the pair, including
Charlie Daniels,
Martina McBride and
Keith Urban, who added their voices to the tune.
Record flood waters damaged instruments, memorabilia and archival tapes at the Country Music landmark. The May flooding left the Opry stage under nearly four feet of water. The entire stage has since been refurbished, including the six-foot circle of wood that was taken from the Opry’s original stage at Ryman Auditorium.
At the show’s end, after
Blake Shelton had finished his No. 1 hit single, “Hillbilly Bone,” with fellow Opry member Trace Adkins, Adkins said that since Shelton is famous for his tweets on Twitter, the Opry had a special tweet for him. It read, “@blakeshelton, you’re invited to join the Grand Ole Opry. See you on 10/23/2010!” How did Shelton take the news? The tears in his eyes said it all. Right after the announcement, Shelton’s fiancee,
Miranda Lambert, who was beaming in the audience, had something to say on her own Twitter about the news, “I am engaged to a member of the Grand Ole’ Opry!!!! That rocks:)”.
Sources: CNN, Nashville.com
