“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.”
These words, from the Grand Ole Opry’s longest-serving inducted singer in the show’s 100-year-old history, say it all. Bill Anderson was first inducted as a member in 1961, and his membership has been without lapse ever since.
To be a member of the Grand Ole Opry requires a certain level of commitment. One must uphold the traditions of country music, make regular appearances and mentor budding musicians. Overwhelmingly, though, many members say that it’s like being part of a family.
Miss Brady, an usher who’s held her position at the Opry ever since it moved from downtown’s Ryman Auditorium to its current home at Opry House in 1974, agrees – in fact, when the Opry marked its 50th anniversary at Opry House last year, her tenure was included in the celebrations.
Opry House is roughly a 25-minute drive northeast of downtown and my Lyft driver is delighted to be taking me there: it’s where he met his wife, on a blind date. “Just celebrated 35 years of marriage,” he says, beaming.
Miss Brady is equally delighted by the anecdote. “Oh, the Opry is just full of stories like that,” she exclaims. “It means so much to so many people.”
She herself grew up listening to the WSM broadcast as a child, when her parents would tune in on the household radio. “Families would gather at the house of one neighbour or another to listen to the show,” she recalls. “It wasn’t just about entertainment; The Opry brought people together.”
It’s still bringing people together now; you can see what musicians mean when they say that to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry is to be part of a family. Touring the backstage area before a Friday night show, artists are gathered in open-door dressing rooms, which are more like comfortable, homely living rooms.
Often, says Miss Brady, different performers will gather for an impromptu jam before taking to the stage. “Where else can you see established musicians just sitting down to play or sing with rising talents?” she says. “It’s just a wonderful atmosphere. Emerging artists who’ve held a lifelong dream of performing at the Grand Ole Opry, and here they are, playing with artists they’ve always looked up to. It’s very emotional.”
As for her own role, Miss Brady sees it as a ‘huge honour … I’m just so proud,” she smiles, saying that she intends to continue working right up until age or health prevent her from doing so. Her 50-plus years have in no way diminished the thrill of her job, nor of encountering musicians and seeing the audience’s response.
Connie Smith was five years old when she stated her intention to one day appear on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1964, she made that dream a reality, and a year later, she was inducted as a member. Now 83 years old, she continues to wow audiences with the power of her voice.
“When Connie Smith is on stage, people go crazy,” says Miss Brady. “She gets a standing ovation.” She also recalls The Beach Boys making their Opry debut in 2022, and the team placing leis on every seat in the house.
As for her own favourite artists, “well, there are just too many to count,” she says – although she admits to a special fondness for John Fogerty, who made his Opry debut in 2016, as well as member Garth Brooks, who is “always so kind to fans.”
From young fan to executive producer
Dan Rogers has been employed by the Opry for 27 years, starting as an intern in 1998 and moving through various roles before becoming senior vice-president and executive producer – but, like Miss Brady, his connection with this Nashvillean institution goes back much further. In his office, a framed black and white photo shows a five-year-old Dan on his first ever visit.
“We lived in Illinois and mom and dad would listen to the show at home,” he says. “On this occasion, we were driving home from vacation in Florida; after that, we returned to see the Opry every second year.” It’s not by chance that Dan landed here: those childhood experiences formed an impression so compelling that he actively sought an opportunity to somehow be a part of it, referring to it as the “Ground Zero of country music.”
“One of the most special things about the Opry is that it’s grounded in tradition but open to the new,” he says. “It represents not only the past and present” – as demonstrated by the six-foot wooden circle on the Opry stage, cut from the stage of its former Ryman home – “but also the future of country music.”
For the benefit of those selling travel, the Opry team is confident that “there are no bad seats at the Opry House, with 4,000-plus seat capacity spanning 37 different sections.” That said, the best way to go about booking clients’ tickets is to go directly through senior sales manager Kristi Driver (kdriver@opry.com), as she can arrange the best seats and deals for them.
While standard tickets don’t include food and beverage, there’s currently a pre-show Opry 100 Grand Celebration Package (US$109.35) with Premium Lounge access, which includes drinks and hors d’oeuvres, plus an introduction to the show from one of the stars.
On the night that I attend the Opry, Australian musician Jedd Hughes is performing and, after the presenter has covered various US states, I am itching for him to ask: “Anyone here from Down Under?” so that I can wave my arms.
When I ask Dan what he wants his legacy to be, he mentions a desire to raise the Opry’s profile on an international level. It would be incredible to think that, one day, the presenter might ask: “Anyone from the UK here tonight?” and be met by a cheering, whistling crowd of country music fans.
Book it: North America Travel Service offers five nights at Tempo by Hilton, Downtown Nashville, and a Grand Ole Opry Backstage Tour, with direct British Airways flights, from Heathrow to Nashville, from £1,279pp, based on two adults sharing a standard room, travelling in November 2025; northamericatravelservice.co.uk/nashville; opry.com; visitmusic.city.com
