Who Are Your Favorite Grand Ole Opry Stars?

A couple of weeks ago while my wife and I were returning home after a weekend in Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry, we were discussing the show and the weekend. She asked me a question that got me thinking. She asked, "Who is your favorite Opry performer?" It was an interesting question, because there are so many that I like on the Opry. Another way to put the question would be, "Is there any current Opry member that you get excited about when you see their name listed in the line-up?"

So I thought I would break this down from my own viewpoint. The Opry currently has 66 members, and while I would like to say that I like all of them, I don't. Mostly it just has to do with my personal taste in music, nothing personal against any of them.

With that, I thought I would give all of you my personal rankings in a couple of different areas as far as my favorite Opry members: (I considered only active members)

Favorite Female:
1) Patty Loveless
2) Connie Smith
3) Emmylou Harris
4) Pam Tillis
5) Lorrie Morgan
6) Loretta Lynn
Actually, it is probably a tie between Patty and Connie as I love them both.

Favorite Group:
1) Diamond Rio
2) Riders In The Sky
Not many groups currently on the Opry

Favorite Bluegrass:
1) Ricky Skaggs
2) Jesse McReynolds
3) Del McCoury
4) Alison Krauss
All are great bluegrass acts and the Opry has others just as good

Favorite Male:
1) Vince Gill
2) Marty Stuart
3) George Hamilton IV
4) Bill Anderson
5) Jim Ed Brown
6) John Conlee
7) Garth Brooks
8) Brad Paisley
9) Larry Gatlin
The Opry is really loaded with some great male performers

Favorite Legend:
1) Stonewall Jackson
2) Ray Pillow
3) Jimmy Dickens
4) Stu Phillips
5) Jan Howard
All are excellent

Taking all of those, here are my top 5 favorite Opry performers:
1) Vince Gill
2) Patty Loveless
3) Ricky Skaggs
4) Marty Stuart
5) George Hamilton IV
6) Jim Ed Brown
7) Bill Anderson
8) Emmylou Harris
Yes, I have more than 5, but that is ok.

Just my thoughts and ideas. I certainly want to hear from others.