T. Graham Brown is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. The 69-year-old was inducted on Friday night, May 3, by Vince Gill, who is also the one who invited Brown to become an official Opry member earlier this year.

Brown and Gill were joined on stage by his wife, Sheila, and fellow Opry members John Conlee, The Isaacs, Don Schlitz, Jeannie Seely and Mark Wills.

“As great as this night is for you, you have to know it’s equally as great for us,” Gill said. “All the other members that wanted to come and be a part of this for you tonight, because you’re a part of our family now. And the family that goes on here is way deeper than any hit song you’ll ever have. I’m proud, on behalf of all of us here, and your beautiful wife, to say, ‘Congratulations, and welcome to the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, T. Graham Brown.'”

Brown was full of emotion as he gave his first speech as a Grand Ole Opry member.

“I’m gonna try not to cry,” Brown said, thanking God, Sheila, his son, Acme, who was playing drums in his band during his induction, his friends and “unbelievable” staff at the Grand Ole Opry.

“Thank you all for coming. Thank you all. God bless you,” Brown said as the crowd erupted into another standing ovation.

Not surprisingly, Brown was also full of emotion when Gill surprised him by inviting him to become the next Grand Ole Opry member, while Gill was appearing on Brown’s popular SiriusXM show, Live Wire.

“That’s amazing,” Brown said, “Oh my goodness. Please tell me you’re not kidding me. This is the greatest thing … You don’t know what that means to me, buddy.”

“Amazing. I so wanted this; you just don’t know,” he continued. “I so wanted this. I’m so proud of the Opry. I’m just so proud to be there every time. I’ve never taken it for granted, ever. It’s just amazing.”

Brown started Live Wire more than five years ago, and it remains one of his favorite parts of his career, in spite of his busy schedule.

“It’s fun,” Brown recently told Everything Nash. “It’s called Live Wire, and I play live cuts from artists’ live albums. That’s what it’s all about, live music. I do one of mine, and they usually will run an hour, an hour-and-a-half. There’s no set time. And they air it ten times during the month on the live country channel, so everybody gets a chance to hear it. And then, if they subscribe to the series, there’s an app you can download and then has it on-demand, so you can go back and listen to back episodes. I get to always have one of my friends [on the show].”

Brown follows Scotty McCreery, who was inducted on April 20. Find information about Live Wire, and all of Brown’s music and upcoming shows, at TGrahamBrown.com.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry / Chris Hollo

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