Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood join country music stars for the Grand Ole Opry's 5,000th show
The curtain rose this weekend in Nashville for a singular milestone in entertainment history — the 5,000th Saturday night Grand Ole Opry broadcast.
Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker, Vince Gill, Chris Young and a half-dozen others lined up to celebrate the nearly century-old country music program with live performances from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
WSM radio carried a broadcast of the show, same as it did in 1925 when the "barn dance" program debuted in downtown Nashville. Some could turn the dial to hear Brooks and company, while others tuned in online or via cable for a video livestream of the performance.
No matter the medium, the Opry delivered what it has promised since family and friends began gathering for broadcasts thousands of Saturdays ago: A night of country music entertainment.
Read along for highlights as six decades of Opry members paid tribute with songs old and new to a show that's withstood wartime, natural diester and a global pandemic.
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A Grand Ole opener
A crash course in country music history opened the show Saturday night with some of the finest teachers in Opry history leading the class.
The band kicked off to an ovation-earning medley from Darius Rucker, Connie Smith, Bill Anderson, Terri Clark and more, with each paying tribute to the songs that artists that helped establish the Opry as an indelible force for generations.
Anderson, a 60-year Opry veteran, kicked off the show with Roy Acuff tune "Wabash Cannonball." A run of cross-country songs followed, including Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" (sung by Smith), Patsy Cline's "San Antonio Rose" (sung by The Gatlin Brothers), Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Rucker), Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Clark) and Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (Chris Janson) — and that was just the first six minutes.
Vince Gill's guitar history
Vince Gill brought a piece of music history with him to the show, playing a well-worn acoustic guitar he said was once owned by formative Opry star Sam McGee. One-half of old time outfit The McGee Brothers, Gill said Sam McGee first played Nashville's famed AM radio program in 1926, months before the barn dance program became known as the Grand Ole Opry.
Gill played an acoustic version of "Way Downtown" in tribute to The McGee Brothers.
"What a neat night to be out here," Gill said, adding: "I think every time I come out here to sing songs, I always want to sing an appropriate song. ... Tonight, because the show is the 5,000th, it's a big deal for all of us and all of you."
The Country Music Hall of Famer closed his two-song appearance with "Making Plans," a nod to late "Rocky Top" bluegrass picker Sonny Osborne, who died earlier this week.
'Will The Circle Be Unbroken'
It isn't a night at the Opry without "Will The Circle Be Unbroken."
The country standard and longtime rallying cry for Opry artists came around the night's midway point; some of the most tenured members enlisted for the 5,000th celebration — Connie Smith, Jeannie Seely and John Conlee, who combine for 150 years of Opry membership — shepherded Saturday night's rendition. The trio invited modern Opry stars Dustin Lynch and Chris Young for the performance.
Seely, dressed in a sparkling "5,000" sweater, introduced the classic: "At the Opry we're all blessed to have (an) anthem we turn to in the good times and the bad," she said.
Darius Rucker, Chris Young tribute the classics
A pair of today's country hitmakers spent time on stage paying tribute to those who came before. Chris Young sang Charley Pride classic "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'" and Darius Rucker — dressed in a bedazzled black suit he described as "channeling my inner Little Jimmy Dickens" — offered Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight."
Rucker described his time on the Opry stage as "one of my great honors in life."
"I'm so proud of it," Rucker said. "This is my home away from home."
And Young described the night as "absolutely mind-blowing."
"It would be really weird if I didn't honor that and play one of my favorites that I listened to growing up," Young said before "Kiss An Angel ..."
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood close the show
Introduced by Rucker as "crown jewels of country music," a freewheelin' acoustic set from all-star couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood closed the 5,000th broadcast.
Brooks bounded on stage, shaking hands with a front row audience member who said he traveled for the show from Lake Charles, Louisiana. The impromptu meet-and-greet teed Brooks up for an Opry House singalong to live staple "Callin' Baton Rouge."
From "Baton Rouge," Brooks and Yearwood swapped songs, jokes and at least one kiss on stage. Yearwood performed slices of "She's In Love With The Boy," "How Do I Live" and "Runaway Joe," as well as 1990s Brooks duet "In Another's Eyes." Brooks offered the audience "Two Pina Coladas," "The River" and a show-closing take of "Friends In Low Places."
"Happy 5,000 to the Grand Ole Opry" Brooks said. "Can't tell you how lucky we feel to be apart of it."
Opry 5,000 set list
Opening ensemble medley: "Wabash Cannonball" (Bill Anderson), "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," (Connie Smith), "San Antonio Rose" (Gatlin Brothers), "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Darius Rucker), "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Terri Clark) and "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (Chris Janson)
Terri Clark: "Better Things To Do"
The Gatlin Brothers: "All The Gold In California"
Dustin Lynch: "Cowboys and Angels"
Bill Anderson: "Still," "When Two Worlds Collide" (with Jeannie Seely)
Chris Janson: "Buy Me A Boat"
The Isaacs, John Conlee and Connie Smith: "Amazing Grace"
Vince Gill: "Way Downtown," "Making Plans"
Connie Smith: "Once A Day"
John Conlee: "Rose Colored Glasses"
Jeannie Seely: "Don't Touch Me"
Ensemble: "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" (Smith, Conlee, Seely, Lynch and Chris Young)
Chris Young: "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," "Gettin' You Home"
Darius Rucker: "Walkin' After Midnight," "Beers and Sunshine"
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood: "Callin' Baton Rouge," "She's In Love With The Boy," "In Another's Eyes," "Two Pina Coladas," "How Do I Live," "The River," "Walkaway Joe," "Friends In Low Places"
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Grand Ole Opry 5000 show: Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker
