Update #2 from the Opry:
Due to anticipated inclement weather, the Grand Ole Opry show on Saturday, January 24th has been canceled, as well as Opry House tours on January 24th and 25th. The safety of our fans, our artists, and our staff is our top priority, and we truly appreciate your understanding.
To continue the Opry’s legacy of consecutive Saturday night broadcasts, this Saturday’s show will be presented as a radio-only program. No audience will be permitted. Please tune in on WSM Radio!
Both show and tour refunds are available at your original point of purchase. If you purchased your tickets via AXS online or by phone, a refund will automatically be issued to the credit card you used to purchase within 30 business days. Ticketholders, please check your email for further details.
The John Crist show at the Opry House on Sunday, January 25th has been rescheduled to March 8th.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope to welcome you back to a show soon. In the meantime, please stay safe and warm!
As of now, the Friday Night Opry is still scheduled to take place. Looking at the Opry ticket site, I have seen tickets for as low $12.55 in the balcony with numerous tickets under $40. If you live in the Nashville area, it might be a good opportunity to see a cheap Opry show.
Currently the artists still listed for the Friday Night Opry are The Bellamy Brothers, Jenna Paulette, John Morgan, Gary Mule Deer, Riders In The Sky, Rhonda Vincent and Victoria Shaw.
The last couple of weekends have been pretty busy at the Grand Ole Opry as Clint Black and Reba McEntire celebrated Opry anniversaries, Suzy Bogguss became an Opry member and Dolly Parton celebrated her 80th birthday. This weekend things are a little quieter, with no special events on the schedule. In other words, it looks like a more normal weekend at the Opry House.
Taking a look at the Friday Night Opry, Opry members T. Graham Brown, Riders In The Sky, Connie Smith, Rhonda Vincent and comedian Gary Mule Deer are on the schedule. Gary Mule Deer is back on Saturday night, making it a two-show weekend for him, with members John Conlee, Bill Anderson and Ashley McBryde scheduled.
I use the word "scheduled" because it looks like it could be an interesting weekend in middle Tennessee, along with much of the country east of the Mississippi River as an intense winter storm will be making its way through the central part of the country. While the path of the storm has changed slightly over the past couple of days, and as I post this on Wednesday afternoon, there are still a few days to go, depending on the location and actual path, it is either going to be a snow or ice event.
As of now, Nashville is in the predicted snow area, but the line between snow and ice is just south of Nashville. The weather should move in late on Friday afternoon with Saturday being the worse of it. The potential is for at least 4 inches of snow, possible more. If it is ice, there could be a significant accumulation and with the colder weather, whether it is snow or ice, it will not be going anywhere soon.
Some have already asked me, when was the last time an Opry show was cancelled. Believe it or not, it was just over a year ago as the Friday Night Opry was cancelled on January 10, 2025, due to a snowstorm. As far as a Saturday night show, the last cancellation took place on April 6, 1968, when the City of Nashville instituted a curfew following the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In its place, WSM aired a previously taped show.
Now getting back to this weekend, specifically Friday night, The Bellamy Brothers are back on the schedule. The duo has been missing for a while, and it is nice to see them back. Victoria Show along with Jenna Paulette & John Morgan round it out. Saturday night, Dasha, Megan Patrick and making his Opry debut, Zach John King are listed.
Friday January 23
7:00: T. Graham Brown, Jenna Paulette & John Morgan, Riders In The Sky, Connie Smith
Intermission
8:20: Rhonda Vincent, Victoria Shaw, Gary Mule Deer, The Bellamy Brothers
Saturday January 24
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, John Conlee, Megan Patrick, Zach John King, Bill Anderson
Intermission
8:20: Dasha, Opry Square Dancers, Gary Mule Deer, Ashley McBryde
Zach John King was invited by Luke Bryan back in early December, to make his Opry debut. Zach, who is one of Spotify's Artist to Watch in 2026, said after the surprise invite "I don't even have words to say how honored I am." Zach is from Georgia and is part of Sony Music Nashville. His breakout single was "Wannabe Cowboy" in 2024. He opened for Luke Bryan last summer and is scheduled to open for Morgan Wallen this year. In addition to being on of Spotify's Artists to Watch, he has also appeared on several Top 10 lists including from The Nashville Briefing and All Country News.
Taking a look back, it was 28 years ago, Saturday January 24, 1998, that Grand Ole Opry member Justin Tubb passed away after a sudden illness.
Born in San Antonio, Texas singer-songwriter Justin Tubb was the son of Ernest and Elaine Tubb. He studied journalism at the University of Texas, and while he appeared with his father at times on the Grand Ole Opry, it wasn't until the early-mid 50s that he began to make an impact in country music. He was signed to Decca Records in 1954 and his many hits included "Blue Eyed Elaine," "Looking Back To See," "As Long As There's A Sunday," "I Gotta Go Get My Baby" and "Take A Letter Miss Gray."
As a songwriter for other artists, his songs included "Hurry, Mr. Peters," "Keeping Up With The Joneses," "Love Is No Excuse" and "Lonesome 7-7203." Over the years he toured all over the USA, Canada, Europe, appeared in US television shows and song regularly on the Opry right up to his death.
Justin was scheduled to appear on the Opry on Saturday January 24, however earlier that morning he died during emergency surgery for a burst blood vessel in his stomach.
When Justin joined the Opry on September 10, 1955 at the age of 20, he was the youngest new member in the history of the show.
At the time of his death, Bill Anderson said, "I'm sure it wasn't easy growin' up as the son of Ernest Tubb, the legend, and particularly wantin' to follow in his footsteps but not ride on his coattails. Justin was adamant about that for years. There was a time at the Opry he didn't want us to mention that he was Ernest Tubb's son. He wanted to stand on his own two feet, which I admired very much."
Here is the posted lineup from Saturday January 24, 1998:
1st show
6:30: Del Reeves (host): Skeeter Davis
6:45: Osborne Brothers (host): Bill Carlisle
7:00: John Conlee (host): George Hamilton IV, Jeanne Pruett, Justin Tubb, Johnny Russell
7:30: Jack Greene (host): Alison Krauss, Ronnie Milsap
8:00: Bill Anderson (host): Jim & Jesse, Alison Krauss, Opry Square Dance Band, Melvin Sloan Dancers
8:30: Ricky Skaggs (host): The Whites, Charlie Louvin, The 4 Guys, Billy Walker
2nd show
9:30: Bill Anderson (host): Ronnie Milsap, Alison Krauss
10:00: Osborne Brothers (host): Oswald & Charlie
10:15: Jack Greene (host): Jeanne Pruett
10:30: Del Reeves (host): Stonewall Jackson
10:45: Johnny Russell (host): Opry Square Dance Band, Melvin Sloan Dancers
11:00: John Conlee (host): Billy Walker, Jim & Jesse, Stu Phillips, Ray Pillow
11:30: Ricky Skaggs (host): The Whites, George Hamilton IV, The 4 Guys
The funeral for Justin Tubb, who was just 62 at the time of his death, took place at the Ryman Auditorium. On a personal note, while he was a good singer, I thought that Justin was a very good, but underrated songwriter.
Finally, congratulations to Grand Ole Opry Square Dancer Marcia Campbell who last weekend celebrated her 40th year as one of the square dancers. It is hard to believe that she was just a young girl when she first danced on the Opry. On a personal note, I miss hearing her on WSM.
There you have it for this weekend. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope, with the winter storm approaching this weekend, everyone stays safe and warm. And of course, enjoys the Opry.
When I read that the Saturday Night Grand Ole Opry was being cancelled, the first thing that I thought of was "the Circle is going to be broken." Then I read "To continue the Opry’s legacy of consecutive Saturday night broadcasts, this Saturday’s show will be presented as a radio-only program. No audience will be permitted. Please tune in on WSM Radio!"
ReplyDeleteSo what does this mean? They are going to have a show but no audience? That's what it sounds like to me except they say it's been cancelled ... just a bit confusing.
(Jeanene)
Jeanene,
ReplyDeleteCoffee, Country, and Cody is not telling us listeners anything this morning about Saturday's "show." I don't understand. Why the "big secret?"
It’s not a “big secret”. They're not saying anything because they probably don’t know yet who will be able to get there. The ticketed show is canceled. They will do a radio show though. Think of it as what they did during the pandemic…. Safety comes first.
ReplyDeleteThat may very well be correct. But some of us can't read minds! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nat, for some reason, I am unable to click on "reply" under your name ... maybe it's the cold, up here in the Chicagoland area, it is currently a minus 14° AIR temp, this is NOT the wind chill factor, that's worse ... minus 30°!! So we are danged cold up here this morning, but I'd rather have this danged cold than have to be down in the Southern states with all the ice/snow storms they are so not used to getting; no thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt's very possible they don't know either, there's a lot of hours between their show this morning and tomorrow night's show. Right now we know there's a Friday Night Opry; it's almost 10a here in the Central time zone, that's what we know. They could fully cancel the entire show tomorrow night where no one shows up, but if everyone can stay locally at the Opryland Hotel and there are hotels right in that Opryland area, I stayed at one in October, it wouldn't be too bad.
Stay safe and warm everyone and enjoy whatever Opry shows we may, in the end, hear.
(Jeanene)