Steve Earle is the next artist to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Earle was issued the invitation by Vince Gill on Saturday, April 26, while performing at the Opry.

Gill surprised Earle after Earle’s performance of “Copperhead Road.”

“It came to my attention that you saw a strap that I’ve been wearing the last few weeks and we decided we’d get you a gift,” Gill says, referring to a personalized guitar strap, in honor of the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th anniversary. “This is a Grand Ole Opry strap that they made for the 100th year … They wanted me to come out and give you this gift.”

Gill seems to start walking off stage, before he stops.

“Oh, but one thing. What I forgot to mention is, to get one of these straps, you have to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry,” Gill tells a stunned Earle. “And I get to invite you to be our newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. I’m a 40-plus year fan.”

“One of the rules that we have here now is, once we invite somebody to be a part of our family, they have to sing one more song,” he tells a stunned Earle.

“This is kind of like the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me in my whole life,” Earle says, before launching into “Hilbilly Highway.”

.@VGcom surprised @SteveEarle with an invitation to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry by presenting him with a custom guitar strap commemorating 100 years of the Opry!

Watch the full moment below. We’re thrilled to welcome you to the family, Steve ♥️ pic.twitter.com/m0xwSltuvL

— Grand Ole Opry (@opry) April 27, 2025

 

Earle will embark on his Solo & Acoustic 50 Tour: Fifty Years of Songs and Stories, beginning on May 25.

“Awhile back, I was interviewing John Hiatt on my radio show and we realized that we had known each other for fifty years,” Earle says of the tour (via Rock Cellar). “I met John in 1975, my first full year in Nashville, and it occurred to me that the oldest songs that I still play (there are three) were written that year. Now, I live to follow creative rabbits down holes, and I’m old enough, now, that the idea of legacy comes up now and then. So, I decided that a more or less chronological live songbook might make for an interesting evening of music.”

Earle has written and recorded some of the most iconic songs of all time, including “Copperhead Road,” “Guitar Town,” “Six Days on the Road” and more.

An induction date for Earle into the Grand Ole Opry has yet to be announced. Earle is the first artist announced to be inducted as part of the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th anniversary celebratory year.

Photo Credit: Chris Hollo