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.
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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.”
Five Country Superstars Who Are Not Opry Members
George Strait
Vince Bucci/Getty ImagesGeorge 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.
Kenny Chesney
Scott Gries/Getty ImagesKenny 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.
