Scotty McCreery Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by Josh Turner

From the American Idol stage to the Opry stage, Scotty McCreery finally received one of the most prestigious honors in the country music community this weekend (April 20) after more than a decade of dreaming: becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Taking the Opry stage on numerous occasions throughout his career thus far – with the first time being just weeks after his American Idol victory in 2011 – McCreery was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry during an Opry Country Christmas show in December. One of his longtime inspirations, country legend Garth Brooks, wished him a Merry Christmas onstage and asked him to become the 227th member of the Grand Ole Opry, with McCreery graciously accepting.

Before his big night began, the North Carolina native touched on how he was feeling before hitting the Opry stage. “I got all the feelings going on right now. I'm excited, honored, humbled, feeling very blessed. On the other end, I'm very nervous for some reason,” McCreery shared. “This is something I've dreamed of since I was a kid. Since I was a kid, when my mama was telling me about coming to the Opry in the ‘70s when she was younger and Whispering Bill [Anderson] was playing that night. She'll never forget it, so I've always hoped that this day would come.”

After the Opry Square Dancers opened the show with a bang, Craig Morgan, Jeannie Seely, Sierra Hull, Riders In The Sky, Charlie McCoy, Bill Anderson and Josh Turner performed a special set of songs, shortly before McCreery arrived onstage – garnering a standing ovation from all attendees – to sing his current Country Radio single, ‘Cab In A Solo’.

He went on to sing an unreleased tune titled ‘Fall Of Summer’, and then the gap between the generations of the country music community was bridged as the induction took place.

Two of his biggest influences, 64-year-old Randy Travis and 46-year-old Josh Turner – with 30-year-old McCreery auditioning for American Idol with the latter’s ‘Your Man’ in 2011 – took the Opry stage to do the honors, with Turner sharing a speech that caused everyone in the crowd, as well as himself, to shed a tear.

Naturally, this gesture meant a lot to McCreery, who told the media ahead of his induction, “Josh, he's become a good buddy of mine, which is amazing. He really was one of my biggest influences and heroes growing up listening to country music… They said, ‘Who would be your top choices to do the induction?’ and I gave them my list, but Josh was at the top of it. I’m very glad he took the time out to be here.”

Praising his artistry for almost seven minutes straight, as well as who he is as an individual, Turner then extended McCreery the prestigious Grand Ole Opry trophy, allowing the CMT and ACM Award winner to officially become a part of the select group of country superstars. After a moving acceptance speech, McCreery concluded the night by performing a track he debuted at the Opry several years ago, ‘Five More Minutes’, which had the whole crowd on their feet and singing along.

Admitting that he needs to “go home and start writing a new bucket list,” as his number one goal has now been accomplished, we could not be happier for Scotty McCreery. With his sixth studio album, Rise & Fall, hitting all streaming services on May 10, we're already looking forward to McCreery's return to the Opry stage, where he'll hopefully treat attendees to a selection of tracks from the new project.

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