The Grand Ole Opry has a new member, and it isn’t a country music singer. Comedian Henry Cho became the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, when he was inducted on Saturday, February 11, by his good friend, Vince Gill. Cho, along with fellow comedian Gary Mule Deer, were both invited to join last month by Marty Stuart.

“I just want to say congratulations,” Gill told Cho from stage. “We’ve been friends for 30, 35 years, just good golfing buddies, just good friends. We’ve been on the road together, done a lot of things. I just want to encourage you to come out here. That’s the best thing you can do for us, and that’s why you are becoming a member tonight, because you show up.

“You’ve been out here a lot; you’ve been out here hundreds of times,” he continued. “I’m grateful for it. And when we’re laughing there’s nothing wrong in this world. If you’re laughing, life is good. So,on a personal note, just thanks for being my friend. Thanks for making me laugh.”

Gill then invited fellow Grand Ole Opry members  John Conlee, Ben Isaacs, Don Schlitz and Steve Wariner to join him in officially inducting Cho into the Opry.

“What you get from this place are friendships,” Gill concluded. “Friendships will mean more than the funniest joke you will ever write or the biggest hit we will ever have. So welcome to our family.”

In typical Cho fashion, he began his acceptance speech with a joke, before getting serious about what the honor meant to him.

“Thank y’all. All y’all that stood up, I hope you get out of here quickly, and all y’all that didn’t, I hope you get stuck in traffic,” Cho said with a laugh. “Somebody asked me if this was a dream come true, and I had to honestly say no, ’cause I’ve never dreamt about this moment. It wasn’t anywhere on my radar. I was telling jokes in bars. I did some stuff, and I made some personal choices to raise my family in Nashville. Vinny and I have known each other forever. We play a lot of golf, and I know these guys back here. And ever since the first time I ever did this show, and Mr. Conlee was on the show, he just took me in, and said ‘Welcome. You’re going to be welcome here.’

“Steve texted me and said, ‘i’m not gonna miss this for the world,’ and as you can see, he just got out of bed,” he continued with a chuckle. “This is a great honor, and I can’t even put it into words. To have my pal Vince do this induction means the world to me. As you know, I couldn’t have thought of anybody else to try to pull that off.”

The Tennessee native also praised those who helped make him one of the most successful comedians of all time, as well as the first comedian to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

“I just want to thank my family and thank God, well kinda not in that order,” Cho quipped. “My family stood by me. They’ve been with me when I’ve had to tour. They’ve paved their own way. My wife is a rock. She holds the fort down, and my mom is here. My mom came to this country 70 years ago, as a little girl … I just want to thank everyone who has supported me. Just thanks to the Opry and the members and the staff and the crew for agreeing to make this happen. Thank y’all.”

See a list of all of the upcoming shows at the Grand Ole Opry by visiting Opry.com. All of Cho’s future appearances are available at HenryChoComedy.com.

Photo Credit: Grand Ole Opry / Chris Hollo

Read ’10 Country Artists Who Should Be Grand Ole Opry Members’ here.