The Grand Ole Opry is a country music concert and radio show, held between twice and five times per week, in Nashville, Tennessee. The show began as a radio barn dance on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay and has since become one of the genre's most enduring and revered stages. Each performance consists of multiple guest artists as well as Opry members, sometimes called "Opry stars". Members are selected by Opry management (with input from existing members) based on several factors including critical and commercial success, respect for the history of country music and commitment to appearing on the program. Opry members have permission to perform at any Opry show they wish. A typical Opry performance will feature seven to nine artists, including (but not limited to) at least three members.

Membership process Publicly, once a new member is chosen, an existing member will ask the new member to join the Opry live on-air during the broadcast, usually when the new member is performing as a guest. In recent years, invitations have been delivered in other public settings. Prior to 1999, membership was effective immediately upon invitation. Currently, artists who accept the invitation will return on a later date for a scheduled performance and induction ceremony. Being invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry is considered one of country music's crowning achievements.

Over its history, the Opry has featured a large, rotating ensemble of members ranging from all-time greats and neotraditionalists to contemporary stars. At its beginning, it featured only instrumental string bands; the show's repertoire slowly broadened to allow singers and vocal groups in the late 1930s, electric amplification by the early 1940s, and eventually drums, with the first performance featuring a full drum kit taking place in 1967. As the Opry is a running series, membership requires that the performer appear regularly on the program to remain a member of the show. It originally signed its artists to short-term contracts and required its artists to perform 26 shows per year; the program shifted to a permanent membership model in the 1960s and progressively relaxed its requirements over the next several decades. If a performer ceases appearing at the Opry altogether or runs afoul of management, they can be stripped of their membership; if the exiled performer reconciles and renews their commitment to the show, they can be reinstated. Membership expires when the performer dies; if a single member of a duo or group retires or dies, the surviving members may continue to maintain Opry membership on the group's behalf. The Opry, in general, allows performers who retire, or are no longer physically able to perform on a regular basis to stay as members. The Grand Ole Opry House maintains a member gallery backstage that contains an engraved brass nameplate for every act who has ever been a member of the Grand Ole Opry (including those whose membership has lapsed or have been asked to leave).

Familial connections In addition to several family acts who have held membership over the years, two sets of siblings have been invited to join the Opry separately: Loretta Lynn and her younger sister, Crystal Gayle Darrin Vincent (half of Dailey & Vincent) and his older sister, Rhonda Likewise, there have been three instances of parents and their children being inducted separately: Ernest Tubb and his son Justin George Morgan and his daughter Lorrie Pam Tillis and her father Mel

Several Opry members over the years have been married to each other: Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright; Married 1937–2011 (his death) June Carter and Carl Smith; Married 1952–1956 (divorce) Jean Shepard and Hawkshaw Hawkins; married 1960-1963 (his death) June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash; Married 1968–2003 (her death) George Jones and Tammy Wynette; Married 1969–1975 (divorce) Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White (of The Whites); Married since 1981 Connie Smith and Marty Stuart; Married since 1997 Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood; Married since 2005 Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook (who make up half of the quartet Little Big Town); Married since 2006

Current membership Excluding the Opry Square Dancers, who have sui generis membership status, there are currently 75 Grand Ole Opry members. Sixty-one of the Opry's current members perform as solo musical artists. Of those, seven have retired, but may make occasional appearances on the show in performing or non-performing roles (Barbara Mandrell, Jeanne Pruett, Randy Travis, Ricky Van Shelton, Patty Loveless, Ronnie Milsap and Alan Jackson). Two of the members are stand-up comedians (Henry Cho and Gary Mule Deer). Twelve duos and groups hold membership. Among them, three have had a member die since their respective inductions (Montgomery Gentry, The Oak Ridge Boys, and The Whites). The Oak Ridge Boys have been inducted twice, under two completely different lineups. Two other groups have each replaced living group members since being inducted, but maintain their Opry membership (Old Crow Medicine Show and Diamond Rio). Five living people are former Opry members who no longer hold membership: Leroy Van Dyke, Norma Jean, Doug Kershaw, Sam Wellington of the Four Guys, and Willie Nelson. Three artists (Rhett Akins, Charlie Worsham and Neal McCoy) have accepted the invitation to join and are awaiting their respective official inductions.

Age and service of current members The oldest living member (although retired) is Jeanne Pruett, born in 1935 The oldest living person to have ever been a member is Leroy Van Dyke, born in 1929 (he allowed his membership to lapse but still occasionally appears in a non-member capacity) Bill Anderson is the oldest living active member (born in 1937), the longest-serving current member as well as the longest-serving member in the show's history, as his membership has not lapsed since his induction in 1961. Connie Smith, who joined in 1965, is the Opry's longest-serving female member. She and Anderson are the last remaining members to have been inducted before 1972, and the only active members inducted before 1976. The youngest member is Lauren Alaina, born in 1994. The youngest members ever inducted were Doyle and Teddy Wilburn, child prodigies who were inducted in 1940 at ages ten and nine, respectively; after an initial run, their membership was suspended until 1956 due to child labor laws.

All-time membership

Acts with a † are deceased; ‡ indicates a member of the group is deceased.

1920s

No. Name Induction date Notes1Uncle Jimmy Thompson†November 28, 19252Humphrey Bate†January 2, 19263Henry Bandy†March 13, 19264The McGee Brothers†19265Mazy Todd† April 3, 19266Uncle Dave Macon†April 17, 19267The Pikard Family†May 8, 19268 DeFord Bailey†June 19, 1926Forced to retire due to WSM's cancellation of its ASCAP license in 1941. He returned in 1974, appearing sporadically until his death. His son DeFord Bailey Jr. and grandson Carlos DeFord Bailey have also appeared on the show.9The Crook Brothers†July 24, 1926Herman Crook, one of the Crook Brothers, was the last survivor of the 1920s era Opry members, maintaining his membership uninterrupted until his 1988 death—a record that would stand until Bill Anderson surpassed him in 2023.10Sid Harkreader†July 24, 192611Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers†October 30, 192612Theron Hale and his Daughters†November 13, 192613Arthur Smith†July 16, 192714The Fruit Jar Drinkers†December 17, 192715The Gully Jumpers†December 24, 192716Kitty Cora Cline†March 24, 192817Ed Poplin and his Barn Dance Orchestra†April 21, 192818Uncle Joe Mangrum and Fred Schriver†July 30, 1928

1930s

No. Name Induction date Notes19Ford Rush†20Hilltop Harmonizers†21Nap and Dee†22The Vagabonds†September 5, 193123Asher and Little Jimmy Sizemore†September 24, 193224Curly Fox†September 24, 193225Zeke Clements†September 24, 193226The Delmore Brothers†April 29, 193327Robert Lunn†March 31, 193428Lee White†April 21, 193429Sarie and Sally†January 26, 193530Jack Shook and his Missouri Mountaineers†February 2, 193531The Lakeland Sisters†January 23, 193732Bob Wills†May 22, 193733Pee Wee King†June 27, 193734Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys†February 19, 1938Left the Opry in 1946 and returned in the early 1960s. Bashful Brother Oswald represented the Smoky Mountain Boys after Acuff's 1992 death, and was given his own formal induction in 1995.Grand Ole Opry members list as of 1998.35Cousin Jody†36Jamup and Honey†January 7, 193937Bill Monroe†October 28, 1939

1940s

No. Name Induction date Notes38Danny Dill†39Johnnie and Jack†40Milton Estes and his Musical Millers†41Old Hickory Singers †42Minnie Pearl†November 30, 194043The Duke of Paducah†194244John Daniel Quartet†1942Included among its members Wally Fowler, who was inducted with his own group in 1945 (see below).45Eddy Arnold†1943Relinquished membership in 1948 when he launched his own radio show on CBS.46Cowboy Copas†194347Ernest Tubb†February 13, 194348Curley Williams†September 4, 194349The Bailes Brothers†194450The DeZurik Sisters†194451The Poe Sisters†June 17, 194452Rod Brasfield†July 15, 194453David "Stringbean" Akeman†194554Lew Childre Sr.†194555Bradley Kincaid†194556Wally Fowler and the Oak Ridge Quintet†January 27, 1945Fowler was already a de facto member by way of his membership in the John Daniel Quartet. The Oak Ridge Quintet was a direct predecessor to the group now known as The Oak Ridge Boys. All of its personnel were replaced by the time Fowler sold the rights to the name to Smitty Gatlin in 1957. Gatlin left in 1966, replaced by current Oak Ridge Boys lead Duane Allen. The modern-era version of the group was inducted in 2011.57Jimmy Wakely†September 29, 194558The Willis Brothers†194659Grandpa Jones†March 16, 194660Red Foley†April 13, 194661Lonzo and Oscar†194762Paul Howard and the Arkansas Cotton Pickers†194763George Morgan†September 25, 194864Little Jimmy Dickens†November 6, 1948Membership lapsed from 1957 to 197565Jordanaires†1949Membership lapsed prior to 1998. The group formally disbanded with the death of its last founding member in 2013, but reunited in 2023. One member from its period of flourishing, bass vocalist Ray Walker, survives.66Hank Williams and the Drifting Cowboys†June 11, 1949Dismissed and membership revoked August 11, 1952, for habitual drunkenness and missing shows. The Cowboys eventually rejoined by becoming Ray Price's backing band, with Price eventually evolving the group into the Cherokee Cowboys.

1950s