Lainey Wilson Invited to be Next Grand Ole Opry Member
With the tear that Lainey Wilson has been on lately, it was only a matter of time before she was named a member of the Grand Ole Opry. As the reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year, if anything, the Opry was in arrears tenuring an invitation for her to become the next performer to be asked into the circle. Now that has happened.
On the season finale of The Voice Tuesday evening (5-21), Reba McEntire surprised Lainey Wilson with the official invitation. Reba is currently a judge on the show, and Wilson was performing her latest single “Hang Tight Honey” on the finale.
“Lainey, I am so proud of you,” Reba said. “I am thrilled to death if I had anything to do with your career, ’cause you’re blowing it up. I was so proud of you at the ACMs the other night, and I couldn’t be more proud to be the one that helps you to bridge the gap between our generations. I’d like to be the person who invites you to be an official member of the Grand Ole Opry.”
It’s important to note, the Grand Ole Opry’s parent company and NBC/Universal recently entered into a media partnership, making the cross promotional opportunity on The Voice finale for both companies too good to pass up.
Lainey Wilson is a solid pick for the next Opry member. She’s generally well liked both among fans and the country industry, as well as steadfast in her commitment to country music. She’s an Opry member from the newer crop of performers who you feel will truly cherish the opportunity and honor her commitments.
“My family is here tonight, and they took me to Nashville when I was 9 years old,” Wilson said. “We went to the Grand Ole Opry, and we saw Bill Anderson, Crystal Gayle, and Little Jimmy Dickens, and I knew that I wanted to play there, I wanted to do it. And it’s crazy that you’re asking me to be a member.”
That said, there is chatter from many country music fans that Lainey Wilson is being so lauded and bestowed with so many opportunities at the moment, there’s a fear she could become overexposed, or her career could be overheating. That’s rarely a concern when it comes to a music star, but with Lainey receiving everything while so many other performers wait in the wings, it can result in resentment or an inability to meet expectations, even if people consider Lainey favorably.
Nonetheless, the deal is done, and Lainey will be the next Opry member as soon as she is officially inducted. The invite comes just two days after Lainey Wilson’s 32nd birthday.
The most recent invitees to the Grand Ole Opry include Jon Pardi (April 2023), Sara Evans (August 2023), Scotty McCreery (December 2024), and T. Graham Brown (February 2024).
BREAKING: @reba has just invited @laineywilson to become the newest member of @opry! During our season finale – Reba surprised Lainey with the special invite. Lainey is scheduled to be inducted into the Opry on June 7th. pic.twitter.com/ROrJwHwUMX
— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) May 22, 2024
May 21, 2024 @ 8:06 pm
Very sweet for Lainey! I didn’t know that the Opry and NBC Universal have a new partnership. I still think that being invited to be an Opry member in the actual Opry stage is very special. I watched Carrie Underwood’s invite from Randy Travis the other day (it was her Opry anniversary…16 years! Where did the time go?!), and it was still so sweet and heart warming. Honestly, how many Voice fans know of the Opry? I just feel that doing the invitation this way takes away of what makes the Opry so special. I certainly don’t have a problem with Lainey being a member…she plays there a ton! ????
May 21, 2024 @ 9:40 pm
The main base of fans for the Voice are country fans. They know the Opry and its importance. I like Lainey. I know she’s worked hard at this for a long time. I hate to see her dragged down Especially by other women. Big congrats to her. Glad her family was there to see this honor.
May 21, 2024 @ 8:56 pm
Congrats to her, I guess. However I hope this opens the door for less clean-cut female performers like Sierra Ferrel. A commenter the other day used the term “empty calories” to describe the George Strait song MIA and I completely agree. That is how I feel about Lainey Wilson’s music – it’s all empty calories. Fast and frequent lyrics with no depth. On stage she completely comes off as a tryhard. And this astroturfing of her “making country cool again”…. give me a break. On Randy Travis’ instragram page there was a post of him (obv not him) wishing happy birthday to Lainey and stating how she made country cool again. Fucking barf. Between this and the social media astroturfing to have us accept the Randy Travis AI tracks, it feels like modern country is some trip back in time in some Steven King novel yet everything seems off and doesn’t have a soul.
May 21, 2024 @ 9:39 pm
She who sings with clean hair has forgotten the face of her father.
May 22, 2024 @ 1:05 am
…”empty calories” – the new fudge rounds?
May 23, 2024 @ 1:28 am
I have a certain level of dislike for Carrie Underwood and Lainey Wilson’s music, but it is far below my dislike for the country sub-genre of fat bearded emo appalachian-sounding wannabees. I don’t fully know how to verbalize my disdain for it. I love Dan Tyminski and I freakin’ hate Oliver Anthony. OA is a K-mart version of Tyler Childers. OA’s and that mediocre appalachian sound is so boring, and sonically annoying to me.
May 22, 2024 @ 12:54 am
Happy for her
May 22, 2024 @ 6:39 am
I don’t hate this. I like her well enough. I think she’s one of the few female country artists that can effectively create country music for everyone. If my dad was still alive he’d like her the same way he loved Barbara Mandrell in the 70’s. I’m probably also unaware of how Opry invitations work, but, it kind of feels like she cutting to the front of the line a little.
May 22, 2024 @ 7:17 am
Alright alright, I had to sleep on this, as I saw it right before I went to bed. First off, I’m obviously happy for Lainey, she works fuckin’ hard. Anyone who says she doesn’t deserve it hasn’t paid attention to the impact she’s made and will continue to going forward. Women have it so ridiculously tough in this business, for 99% of them to even make a dent is a miracle in and of itself. Lainey is paving the way for the Sierra Ferrell’s, Hannah Dasher’s, and Kimmi Bitter’s, or any other women that might come on the scene and be a little different, and God forbid, entertaining just like the gals before her did. Not to mention taking out openers like Zach Top and others so that they get to play in front of new fans.
On to the “empty calories”……. I’ll be the first to say I don’t like every song she’s recorded, or a few of the 47 duets she’s done, or even the new single, but to say all of her songs are empty and meaningless is ludicrous. I’m sure the new record will have something for everyone. Is the world over saturated with Lainey right now? Of course. Should she of sat back from the whole scene for a year and concentrated on writing deep quality songs for a 37 track album produced by Dave Cobb? It would never happen, we’re stuck with Jay Joyce. look at the top 10 Country albums this week, the only woman in there Beyonce. Lainey deserves to get one in there and she will with Whirlwind. I don’t see any other women being able to do it anytime soon.
May 22, 2024 @ 12:42 pm
99%+ of women AND men won’t make a dent in the business. Country music is the most inclusive genre to women and always has been. There have been articles on this site on how the 1# songs are chosen. Yet many reject that Lainey’s stardom was largely non-organic.
Name one Lainey song that is good enough to become a standard that bands will play for decades to come.
May 22, 2024 @ 1:24 pm
“Country music is the most inclusive genre to women and always has been.”
Even if you think that the “women in country music” issue is overblown, that’s still a completely ludicrous, hyperbolic statement.
May 22, 2024 @ 2:43 pm
Trigger,
What genre would be better? Rock? Nope. Rap? LOL. Pop is nebulous enough to qualify and probably is the right answer. Other than gospel and Christian and let’s face it those two genres aren’t mainstream.
Women dominated late 90s country (part of the reason the genre turned into light pop and AC). It was a rough past decade but historically women have been present in country, unlike most other genres.
May 22, 2024 @ 5:54 pm
Trigger you know damn well that country music has always had a larger percentage of top female performers in it’s genre compared to other genres. How in the freakin’ world is that hyperbolic and ludicrous?! Because you FEEL like it isn’t? You are too much of a pussy to ever hold other races and genres to account because that means that those country lovin’ republicans aren’t really that racist and sexist after all. I’m seriously dumbfounded as to why you think that comment is ludicrous and hyperbolic.
May 22, 2024 @ 12:45 pm
The whole “she has traditional sounding artists as an opener” point is weak. If Morgan Wallen had Zach Top open for him I highly doubt he would receive the same praise as evidence of his traditionalism.
May 22, 2024 @ 8:03 am
Hey Trig. This isn’t related (well maybe it is). It’s been discussed here how country music is really country again or heading that way. But just read an interesting article in HDD dated today. “Near Truths:Howdy Partner”. It discusses NYC and LA based companies hooking up with Nashville labels. The landscape is changing it said. So more Post, Beyoncé, Dua etc. Also saw a post from Spotify basically stating staff or at a labels request can take a single and place it after a popular song so that it automatically gets played more. So a meh song or something they want to gain traction can piggyback off a song streaming well. It just seems manipulation by the record labels is going to get worse. It was an interesting read.
May 22, 2024 @ 12:17 pm
Nashville-based labels have been collaborating with producers from other places for years now. Scott Borchetta was really instrumental in all of this over a decade ago, and specifically matching Taylor Swift with Max Martin and turning her pop. The problem is that this kind of music no longer holds the power over popular country music. Zach Bryan’s last album was all written and produced by him, and its currently beating Beyonce’s in sales despite being six months older and having 11 less tracks. I expect more pop collaboration and commoditization of country in the mainstream in years to come as they try to produce their way out of the hole they are digging for themselves. There will be some successes like Shaboozey. But people will continue to gravitate more towards the organic and the twangy as the mainstream continues to feel more and more like derivative product, and people continue to find better options not produced by Music Row.
May 22, 2024 @ 9:20 am
Good pick and well deserved.
As for all the opportunities she’s being given, the favoritism she is receiving is no different than the favoritism Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood received for years and years. My beef isn’t with Lainey – it’s with an industry that hand picks one or two worthy women and hands them the world while other very worthy women are denied even earned exposure, awards, and opportunities.
May 22, 2024 @ 1:26 pm
Good point. Right now, Lainey Wilson is the token woman. Good for her, but not necessarily good for the industry. I’d love to see Carly Pearce and Megan Moroney be part of a conversation about a rising tide of women in mainstream country.
May 22, 2024 @ 2:47 pm
Moroney’s “I’m Not Pretty” referenced Instagram and sounded like 2008 Taylor Swift. I almost barfed hearing that song on the radio.
Pearce is the real deal.
May 22, 2024 @ 9:55 am
Good for Lainey. Good for the Opry. I agree with some of the posts here that not every song Lainey releases does it for me. Yes, there are some “empty calories” for sure. Other than Brent Cobb and Adam Hood, I can’t think of too many artists that don’t have em, Dig a little deeper in her catalogue and you will find some healthy calories though – Rolling Stone, Two Story House, Microphone, Dreamcatcher, Those Boots, and several others. Get beyond her radio hits and there’s a whole bunch of substance in the deeper cuts.
May 22, 2024 @ 10:33 am
Are these public invitations a total surprise to the artists?
Are they really getting put on the spot like this to make a decision?
May 22, 2024 @ 1:30 pm
I think these invitations and the surprise factor is probably real. It makes for good theater.
ADJ remarked above that they would rather see these invitations at the Opry itself. But I think we all need to appreciate that these Opry invitations as a surprise are a pretty new phenomenon. This used to be handled backstage with a handshake. I think it’s moment like these that can promote the Opry to the greater population, and I’m not opposed to it. Even if people aren’t hardcore country fans, they know what the Opry is, and that it’s important to country music, and to the artists.
May 22, 2024 @ 12:22 pm
Lainey checks the boxes the industry is looking for. She’s attractive, she has a decent country voice, she’s a family friendly act, she’s got energy and performs very well and can handle the rigors of touring. Personally, I like what she does in general. I haven’t done a deep dive into the songs, and like JB above, I’m certainly not big on all of them, but when she hits a good one, it’s outta the park. And I really like her accent. It resonates well with my ears.
Is there perhaps some overhype going on? You betcha. Yet, I get why the industry ” chose” her.
May 22, 2024 @ 2:10 pm
Her ass would be a great pillow
May 22, 2024 @ 4:41 pm
WHO = Worldwide Health Organization
I found Faucci’s alt account. He likes them bunz, hun ????
May 22, 2024 @ 4:56 pm
O! O! O! Ozempic, is a helluva drug!
May 22, 2024 @ 7:38 pm
Not a big fan of this. Just seems like shes just the by product of the machine that gets called out on here at times. Im not saying never but others should have had the shot first.
May 22, 2024 @ 9:18 pm
See….even myself and CountryKnight can agree on occasion (Moroney) not on Pearce, but Strait is always right, and I’m always wrong he must live on a different planet where the women are as successful as men in Country music. He also must be blind to the charts and the festival lineups too.
Pearce is about as exciting as watching paint dry, I saw people yawning when she played here to a half empty 1800 seat GA venue which she was moved down to from a 3000 seat Ticketmaster theater due to lack of ticket sales mind you. She has ZERO stage presence unless you consider fake waving to fans in the crowd exciting, and a bunch of babbling in between songs to waste time quality. People want to be entertained, Lainey knows how to do it. Sierra knows how to do it, and we’ll watch her rise up. Others will end up in opening slots 3rd or 4th on the bill or on the County fair circuit.
May 23, 2024 @ 1:21 am
The first country album that I ever bought on CD was Kacey Musgrave’s first album. When I listen to country music I listen to more 70’s, 80’s and 90’s country and probably 40% is female country artists. My assertion was never that women artists in country had the same level of success as men. I never claimed that. It’s because men and women disproportionately listen to male artists more. However the genre has far more female stars in proportion to it’s male artists than any other genre. Didn’t a women just win entertainer of the year at the ACM awards? Just because it’s not split down the middle 50/50 does not mean Country music as a whole is sexist. IDK what the exact percentage is but it sure as hell is a lot higher than Rock, Rap, and other genres. Maybe the gender gap has widened some in modern country but in the 70’s-2000’s there were a bunch of female artists mixed in with the men. And country music should be judged for it’s output in the past.
Now if we are talking about performing live vs album sales that brings up a different point. Revenue streams today for artist are different from 25+ years ago where they could rely more on album sales and radio play. Artists today have to play live shows more now to make money. Female artists have it harder performing live because they tend to not be as captivating as men when performing live and I’m sure that factors into the lineups at festivals. Obviously there are exceptions such as Sierra. When some of you clap back at my saying country music as a whole has been good to women, are you all talking about he past 10 years, or the past 50? Because none of you are saying that country music was good to women and now they are not. So I can only take it as you responding to country music as a whole in the past 50+ years.
May 23, 2024 @ 6:54 am
Pop has way more representation of women than country, and it’s not even close. It’s a statistical certitude, not an opinion. Yes, historically women have been represented just fine in country music. But for the last 15-20 years, those numbers are at historic lows, and have been maintained there up to today. That is what people are talking about. What happened in the ’90s isn’t really what’s important today. Sure, it’s important context. But not the argument being made.
May 27, 2024 @ 4:57 pm
I think she has a distinctive, good voice, and I can’t stand the majority of her music. It feels like she’s leaning into a kind of redneck bad girl schtick.
May 29, 2024 @ 8:57 am
She is fine and deserving of Opry membership. Some of her music is pretty good, some isn’t. None of it is earthshattering or even particularly memorable. My only issue with her is it really feels like she is being forced on to us. In 2022, she was opening shows for Jon Pardi, along with Hailey Whitters, who I much prefer to Lainey. Last year she opened for Luke Combs and came on before Riley Green.
Then she shows up on Yellowstone, ESPN and everywhere else and now she is on Entertainer of the Year level. Why? Her album sales and streams don’t appear spectacular. Looks like she’s headlining her first tour this year, but she’s not playing arenas or stadiums. (at least in North Carolina)
In this era where we can chose what we listen to, instead of what is force fed to us on the radio, its particularly annoying for “the industry” to just decide that Lainey Wilson is the biggest thing in country music right now.
June 3, 2024 @ 6:32 pm
I find her and her music totally annoying. It’s like she just tries way too hard. Her music is exactly the kind of Country Music that we need saving from. Give me Sierra Ferrell, Whitney Rose, Kelsey Waldon, Nikki Lane, Sarah Shook, Josie Toney, Molly Tuttle, Margo Price, Esther Rose, Melissa Carper….over this country Barbie doll any day of the week.
June 11, 2024 @ 1:00 am
darling precious pant suit.. So, kin she sang juss lack emmyloo harrys ?
heck shucks….Boing !!!!