Opry Quotes

You think about people like Hank Williams, who stood on that spot of wood, and Mr. Acuff, and, of course, George Jones. And just about anybody you can think of who has made country music has been on that stage. That's what makes you so nervous - to think about the historical part of the Opry and how it's played such a part in country music.

Carnegie Hall was real fabulous, but you know, it ain't as big as the Grand Ole Opry.

When I was growing up, Nashville was the place to go if you had songs to sell and thought you had talent and wanted to tour and be on Grand Ole Opry [radio show]. It was the big deal back in those days to play the Grand Ole Opry. And you could travel around the world saying, "Hi, I'm Willie from the Grand Ole Opry".

There is an intimacy about the Opry Theater that gives an entertainer a special charge.

Country music is always changing but the Opry is always there to serve as a lighthouse for what country music really is. The past, present and future is all encompassed by not only the physical structure of the building but also the radio show.

The Grand Ole Opry, to a country singer, is what Yankee Stadium is to a baseball player. Broadway to an actor. It's the top of the ladder, the top of the mountain. You don't just play the Opry; you live it.

Country music is just country. It's going to shift around a little bit, doing some different instrumentations, different production styles. But it will always come back to what you heard at the Opry. Nobody wants it to change.

Pilgrims travel to Jerusalem to see the Holy Land, and the foundations of their faith. People go to Washington, D.C. to see the workings of government, and the foundation of our country. And fans flock to Nashville to see the foundation of country music, the Grand Ole Opry.

George Jones and I happen to share the same birthday.

The first and only time I met him (which I believe was at the Opry if my memory serves me), I told him that. His response, 'You must be trouble.' Takes one to know one, I am so proud to say. George, his music and his mischievous trouble, will all be missed. He is a country legend.

.. the Grand Ole Opry used to come on, and I used to watch that. They used to have some pretty heavy cats, heavy guitar players

What I loved about country music when I was a kid was the Grand Ole Opry, was Hee Haw, was 360 degrees of entertainment.

It means so much being a part of country music and the Opry.

It's something that Cory Morrow said to me a long time ago - "Don't ever forget why Nashville is Nashville. The Opry is there for a reason. Country music lives there. Don't be bitter. And don't ever treat Texas or Nashville like either one isn't important."

I hate to say stuff like this because everyone dreams about playing The Opry, everyone dreams about playing Gruene Hall, but I've always tried to not concentrate too hard on where I want to go because I know if I put too much stock into it, it would be pretty disappointing if I never got there.

No matter what does, or doesn't, happen for me in the music industry, getting to play the Opry as a kid was always be a highlight of mine.

Playing the Opry, when I get the opportunity - it's one of the coolest honors for any musician in any genre, but especially for a country musician.

It's such an honor. I still get, I guess, starstruck, at the Opry. Because there's so much history here and there are so many legends that are still walking around backstage, so it's really an incredible, incredible experience for somebody like me that grew up listening to all of them. And to be able to share the stage with them is something that I treasure.

I feel this is a family here, so kinda regardless of whatever happens in your life, you always can come home to the Grand Ole Opry, thank God.

When I was asked if I wanted to perform on the Grand Ole Opry, I yelled, 'Are you kidding me?' I've been waiting for that my whole life. To be invited where so many of the greatest country artists have performed is an honor, and I still can't believe it has been bestowed on me. Just to stand in the circle where so many greats have stood-Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, I just couldn't believe it.

I came out the back of the building and I was hollering, 'I've sung on the Grand Ole Opry! I've sung on the Grand Ole Opry!'

I'm just another Opry entertainer. I'm not the start of the Opry, and I'm not the ending. I'm not the Alpha, and I'm not the Omega. It's been a pleasure taking part in the Opry and country music these many years. I'm part of a big operation.

I can remember that little thrill - that little shiver of excitement - when the Opry audience would encore a person because that person had touched them so.

Winning the ACM, winning the CMA, my first time on the Opry and having Grammy nominations were all a big deal to me.

Jimmy Dickens was the essence of country music and the heart of the Grand Ole Opry.

My earliest memories of country music are the Grand Ole Opry.

I grew up with the Grand Ole Opry, Dottie West, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens.

.. not realizing it was influencing me as much as it was.

When you go to the Opry for a show or hear it on the radio, you get the whole circle of country music.

I play guitar, the ukulele and the piano.

I grew up on a mountain in Tennessee and we had The Mountain Opry, where anyone could just get up on stage to perform. It was just about the soul and heart of music. My upbringing was less about being great and more about just doing what you love. It was always for joy.

I called my mom, and I was so excited.

I was telling her, 'I'm going to be on the Grand Ole Opry! This is crazy!' And she told me, 'Watch out for Jimmy Dickens, because he likes the pretty girls.

My folks were country music performers.

They made records and even did a few tours with the Grand Ole Opry. There always were a lot of guitarists around.

Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, I got on my knees and told her that I was going to marry her some day. We were both married to someone else at the time. ‘Ring Of Fire’—June and Merle Kilgore wrote that song for me-that’s the way our love affair was. We fell madly in love and we worked together all the time, toured together all the time, and when the tour was over we both had to go home to other people. It hurt.