Huge honor for NC’s Scotty McCreery: Invited by Garth Brooks to join the Grand Ole Opry
Scotty McCreery, the golden-toned baritone from Garner who first wowed audiences as a “American Idol” champ, notched a new honor on his country-music resume:
Member of the Grand Ole Opry.
From the Opry stage in Nashville, fellow crooner Garth Brooks invited the 30-year-old Garner High graduate Sunday night to join the ranks that include Del McCoury and Dolly Parton.
“This is a Christmas present to the Grand Ole Opry,” Brooks said onstage during the Opry’s annual Country Christmas show. “We would love for Scotty McCreery to be the newest member.”
“Holy cow,” said McCreery, The Tennessean reported. “Yes, I would love to,” replied a stunned McCreery.
The Opry calls its membership list “one of the most coveted invitations in all of music,” and shows management makes the call based on airplay, touring success and name recognition.
Earlier this year, the Garner native joined the N.C. Music Hall of Fame, recognized in part being the first country artist and youngest male artist in any genre to have his first album debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
Each of his five studio albums earned Top 10 spots on the country charts, and three of them hit No. 1.
McCreery joined the Opry Country Christmas lineup in Nashville Sunday and got his surprise invitation onstage, where Brooks handed him a gift-wrapped box, warned him not to open it too early and joked that he was up past his bedtime.
“I don’t think I’m sleeping tonight, Garth,” McCreery said.
Fans quickly rejoiced.
“It’s about time!!!” wrote Kristin Faulkner on the Opry’s Instagram post. “Let’s go Scotty!! So well deserved!!! I’ve been following Scotty since his audition on Idol and this just made me cry! I’m so happy for him!”
This story was originally published December 4, 2023 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Huge honor for NC’s Scotty McCreery: Invited by Garth Brooks to join the Grand Ole Opry."