The official birthday isn’t until November, but the Grand Ole Opry celebrated 100 years Wednesday with a star-studded special on NBC, featuring country stars past and present paying tribute to the musical genre that brought them all together.
Opry 100: A Live Celebration, hosted by Blake Shelton, kicked off with Reba singing Patsy Cline‘s “Sweet Dreams” a cappella and also paying tribute to Loretta Lynn with “You Ain’t Woman Enough.” Then, Trisha Yearwood joined Reba onstage to sing Vicki Lawrence‘s “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” which Reba made a hit again in 1991.
There were also tributes to Charlie Daniels, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, Ronnie Milsap, Hank Williams and the gospel roots of country. A tribute to ’90s country featured Clint Black singing “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” Trace Adkins doing “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing” and Blake singing the late Joe Diffie‘s “Pickup Man.”
Other highlights:
Garth Brooks had the honor of singing George Jones‘ iconic “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” His wife Trisha joined him to sing Tammy Wynette‘s “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad,” before they teamed up for the George and Tammy duet “Golden Ring.”
Carrie Underwood paid tribute to Randy Travis, who was sitting in the audience, by singing “Three Wooden Crosses” and “Forever and Ever, Amen.” When she got to the final “Amen,” she went into the audience and let Randy sing it into the microphone. Randy was the one who invited Carrie to be an Opry member in 2008.
Barbara Mandrell introduced Kelsea Ballerini to sing Barbara’s signature song, “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”
Eric Church paid tribute to the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting by singing “Why Not Me,” which he wrote about the tragedy.
Keith Urban sang Crystal Gayle‘s classic “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” and his own “Wasted Time.”
Luke Combs performed George Jones’ “The Grand Tour,” followed by his own hit, “Hurricane.”
The evening ended with Reba, Carrie and an all-star chorus singing Dolly Parton‘s “I Will Always Love You.”
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