‘Opry 100: A Live Celebration’: 10 Best Moments

Dierks Bentley, Jamey Johnson and Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor teamed up to celebrate the hitmaking work of The Charlie Daniels Band, with a rendition of CDB’s CMA single of the year-winning “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” The group’s signature song was a crossover hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979, and reached No. 1 on Hot Country Songs.

Together, Bentley, Johnson and Secor offered up a ferocious jam-band performance that made the most of their individual vocal talents and top-flight musicianship.

Daniels was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2008. Also among the CDB’s honors are CMA wins instrumental group of the year in 1979 and 1980.

Gospel music luminaries The McCrary Sisters joined soul singer Aloe Blacc to honor the career and enduring impact of Charley Pride, by performing his signature hit “Kiss an Angel Good Morning.” Together, they fused the country classic with gospel and R&B, adding an extra romantic flair to the song.

Throughout his decades-long career, Pride earned 29 No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs chart hits, and was named the CMA’s entertainer of the year in 1971 (he also won the CMA’s male vocalist of the year honor that year). Pride again picked up the CMA’s male vocalist of the year accolade the following year.

Post Malone made his Opry debut last year, and with his debut country album F-1 Trillion, made serious inroads into the genre — performing not only at the Opry, but at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe and at country music festival Stagecoach. His F-1 Trillion album was filled with collaborations with a string of country artists.

So it make sense that Posty teamed with Opry member Ashley McBryde to honor two legendary country artists known for their collaborations — Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Jelly Roll had been previously announced to collaborate with McBryde, but Post Malone stepped in for the performance. McBryde and Post Malone honored Cash and Carter Cash with a rendition of their 1967 hit “Jackson” — and in doing so, captured the fun-natured, free-wheeling spirit of the original.

No look at country music’s 100 years of perpetual impact on music at large would be complete without highlighting the music and careers of George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Another of country music’s famous couples — Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood — joined forces to honor the work of Jones and Wynette.

Brooks noted that anyone looking at the breadth of country music ponders the genre’s greatest singers. “For me, it’s who it’s always been and who it will always be — George Jones,” Brooks said from the stage.

He began by giving a sturdy vocal performance on Jones’ CMA single of the year-winning “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” before Yearwood joined him onstage and performed in honor of Wynette, singing “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad.” Then together, they paid homage to Jones and Wynette’s slate of hit duets, performing the 1976 Bobby Braddock and Rafe Van Hoy-written “Golden Ring.”

Having been a performer and musician from a very early age, Barbara Mandrell credits the Opry for sparking her desire to return to the stage after she had retired from performing, following her marriage to Navy pilot Ken Dudney. But after seeing Porter Wagoner perform on the Opry’s stage one night, she became determined to continue in music. That decision led to hits including “Crackers,” “Fooled By A Feeling,” “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed” and “If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don’t Wanna Be Right).”

From 1980-82, Mandrell and her sisters also led the popular weekly program Barbara Mandrell and The Mandrell Sisters, while Mandrell also starred in the television special The Lady Is a Champ. She also became the first artist to win the CMA’s coveted entertainer of the year in consecutive years (1980 and 1981). Mandrell retired from music in 1997 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.

Kelsea Ballerini paid tribute to Mandrell by performing the latter’s signature hit, “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool,” as Mandrell sat close-by on the stage, taking in the performance. Though Ballerini is known for her introspective brand of pop-country, her lilting voice on this Mandrell classic served as a stellar reminder that she can also adeptly handle classic country material with heart and skill.

A significant portion of the show was dedicated to the enduring power of ’90s country music. “It was the talent and the songs,” Clint Black told Billboard on the red carpet, offering reasons for that decade’s continued prominence and influence.

During the show, Country Music Hall of Famer and 26-time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper Alan Jackson proved his voice is still as strong and country as ever, as he performed his hit “Chattahoochie.” Soon after, Post Malone teamed with Travis Tritt to keep the rollicking ‘90s country vibes soaring with a rendition of Tritt’s 1992 hit “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” Later in the evening, Black performed his 1997 song “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” while Trace Adkins performed his 1996 hit “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing.”

Host for the evening Blake Shelton returned to the stage at one point, declared “We can’t do ‘90s country without some Diffie!” He then paid tribute to the late Joe Diffie, one of ’90s country’s golden voices, who earned five No. 1 Country Airplay hits. Shelton feted Diffie with a rendition of Diffie’s four-week 1994 chart-topper, “Pickup Man.”

Eric Church gave one of the evening’s most somber, heartfelt moments, when the 2020 CMA entertainer of the year winner walked onstage with just his guitar. He simply and powerfully addressed the audience, recalling how the Opry played a role of healing during a tough time. “On Oct. 4, 2017, I stood on this stage a broken man. I was shattered. I had just played what is now known as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history in Las Vegas,” he recalled, referring to the tragic shooting that took place at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in October 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 59 people.

“We lost a lot of our country music brethren there… I walked out here that night, not wanting to be here. It was the people in this room and it was the Opry that put one piece of my heart back together. As I was watching video of all the victims and where they were from…this song came out. That night, I played this song — and I think it’s what the Opry’s special for, and why it’s an institution, and I’m going to do it again for them tonight.” He then played an acoustic rendition of his heart-wrenching tribute, “Why Not Me?”

Opry members Terri Clark and Ashley McBryde teamed up for a performance of McBryde’s “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” during the telecast. Together, they spotlighted the illustrious careers — and acknowledged the harder struggles — that women artists have long had in establishing careers in a male-dominated genre.

As they sang McBryde’s song of struggle and ultimate triumph, photos of an array of artists flashed on the screens behind them. Among the artists featured in those photos were Reba McEntire, Emmylou Harris, Lauren Alaina, Trisha Yearwood, Crystal Gayle, Barbara Mandrell and Dolly Parton. In the audience, numerous women country artists could be seeing nodding their heads, smiling, or wiping away tears as the performance rang with heartfelt triumph and encouragement.

Perhaps the evening’s vocal zenith came during a celebration of gospel music’s long and mighty history of influence and impact on country music. Yolanda Adams, Amy Grant and Opry member Steven Curtis Chapman joined The War and Treaty to highlight a slate of gospel classics.

Chapman led on “Precious Memories,” followed by Grant and Tanya Trotter pairing up on “A Closer Walk With Thee.” Adams then joined The War and Treaty, sparking vocal fireworks on a heart-tugging rendition of the hymn “How Great Thou Art” that swiftly brought the Opry House crowd to its feet.

Carrie Underwood gave one of the evening’s most talked-about, showstopping moments when she feted Country Music Hall of Famer Randy Travis.

Underwood told the audience she would borrow cassette tapes of Randy’s music from her sister when they were kids. “From the first time I heard him sing — his traditional country voice and those songs — I knew my sister wasn’t getting those tapes back. The first time I met him, I cried. I never could’ve imagined that I’d be recording songs with him, or that Randy would become my good friend.”

With Travis seated close to the stage, Underwood performed his hit “Three Wooden Crosses,” followed by his CMA single of the year-winning signature song, “Forever and Ever, Amen.” For the final chorus, Underwood stepped down from the Opry stage and walked to Travis, then held out her microphone as Travis lent his iconic voice to the final “Amen.”