Garth Brooks Surprises Scotty McCreery With Opry Invite

On stage at the Grand Ole Opry, Garth Brooks surprised Scotty McCreery last night (112/3). Garth handed the North Carolina native a box wrapped as a Christmas present.

After Scotty began to open the box, Garth told him on stage, "Nope, you don't want to open it. Not till Christmas." Scotty continued to unwrap the gift, and Brooks said, "Watch out, I've got a card in there that I hand-signed myself. So don't open it, not till Christmas, seriously."

McCreery says, "I'll do whatever Garth Brooks says." Garth says, "No, no, no, because the gift inside isn't here yet." He paused and added, "That's right, tonight is merely an invitation,"

The Opry crowd realized just like Scotty did that Brooks was inviting him to be an Opry member, and they cheered.

Brooks said, "I couldn't help but notice you said ten years ago you were sixteen, and your one-year-old is back here, and he's passed his bedtime; you're past your bedtime, too." Scotty said, "I don't think I'm sleeping tonight."

Garth says, "On behalf of the Grand Ole Opry. This is a Christmas present to the Grand Ole Opry; we would love for Scotty McCreery to be the newest member of the Opry."

The Opry posted the exchange on X (formerly Twitter). They captioned the video clip last night (12/3), "BREAKING: @garthbrooks has just invited @ScottyMcCreery to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry!"

See that post here.

In October, Jon Pardi was inducted to the Grand Ole Opry by Brooks, who said, holding up Pardi's Opry member trophy, "I'll tell you what, brother, be careful what you wish for right here 'cause your life is about to go into warp speed right now. I've had great honors in my life, none greater than getting to be a member of this family right here. This is the big one."

Brooks then told the crowd that he met Jon at a CMA party when he was a "baby" act. He then recalled that he took his very first selfie with Pardi. Garth said that when Jon opened for him in Knoxville in front of 80,00 people, he "had them eating out of his hand." He added, "What he did was turn the night around to where the pressure was on me when I came out of there. I used to Like Jon Pardi; after that night, I love Jon Pardi." Brooks said the two would have each other's back and that his next song would sound very different because "you are a member of the Grand Ole Opry."

An emotional Jon then thanked Garth, saying that his hero, whom he's looked up to since he was seven, was right behind him, and it was a full circle moment for him. He noted, "I love the Opry, I love being part of the family, and the future is holding on; I'm holding on, Garth."

Many country music superstars embrace the Grand Ole Opry and openly weep when invited to become members of the Nashville institution. However, a handful of country superstars are not members of the Opry.

To become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, you have to be invited, and that decision comes down to Opry management. According to the Opry website, "Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans, a connection to the music's history, and it requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment. Often, the Opry seeks out those who seek out the Opry, though decisions aren't based on which artists appear most on the show, either."

In picking new members of the Opry, their site says, "The Opry doesn't simply pass out invitations to the biggest stars with the most hits. Opry management looks for a musical and a generational balance. Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans and a connection to the music's history. It requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment."

To become a member, there is a rule that artists need to commit to playing the Grand Ole Opry stage several times a year. However, that rule is often broken by current Opry members (primarily icons and superstars), and it's just okay.

For some country superstars, it may be the commitment they shy away from or not having enough passion for the Opry history to leave the Grand Ole Opry out of their careers. We look at five country music superstars that are not members of the Grand Ole Opry. While all have played it at least once, these five acts rarely play the Grand Ole Opry stage.

Tim made his Grand Ole Opry debut in December 2003. After that, he played it a few times, but never that much, and now he doesn't play the Grand Ole Opry at all. Not sure why.

Faith played the Opry in the late 1990s when her career started to hit. She didn't play the Opry stage much after that.

Vince Bucci/Getty Images

George played the Grand Ole Opry show once, his debut performance on the stage in October of 1982. That was the first and last time, and no one really knows why. There is a theory that he could not make the Opry commitment to play the stage very much because he never lived in Nashville; he has always resided in Texas.

Miranda played the Grand Ole Opry several times in her career, and some of her most recent performances on the Opry stage were in 2014 with then-husband Blake Shelton and in 2015 and 2016. She does not play it often now, and in 2015, she told me when asked about the Grand Ole Opry and someday becoming a member, "It's sort of something I don't talk about or have never asked or say that out loud. It was always a big deal to Blake, so that was something we always talked about, and he became a member, but I'd never really set it out for myself." She added, "It wasn't on my radar before because I focused on that for him, but I would definitely never say no to being a member of the Grand Ole Opry."

Scott Gries/Getty Images

Kenny made his Opry debut in 1996. He has been on the Opry stage a handful of times and once when he paid tribute to George Jones singing his classic, "White Lightning." These days it's very rare to see Chesney on the Grand Ole Opry stage.