On Saturday 1 February 2025, Gene Watson was one of the special artists who performed on the hallowed stage of The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
‘Prior to leaving for Nashville and The Grand Ole Opry, our tour bus received a good cleaning, so that it would shine as we made our way to The Grand Ole Opry on Saturday.
While at The Grand Ole Opry, we celebrated my 5 year anniversary as an Opry member!
Those of you old enough to remember sitting around your old radio at home, listening to the Opry, understand what a very special honour it was to me to get to join as a member.
It’s always been the pinnacle of country music for me.
It was great to see our longtime friend, Bill Anderson, with his friends, Mike Addison and John Holt, at the Opry on Saturday.
Bill is the oldest active member of the Grand Ole Opry, and a member for 62 years.
He’s also one of the most awarded songwriters in country music history!
What a legend he is.
The Grand Ole Opry gave me a wonderful celebration to honour my 5 year anniversary (Friday 7 February 2020) as an official Opry member.
It’s been the honour of my life to be a member and Saturday night was very special.
Here’s the Opry Chief, Dan Rogers, presenting me with a one of a kind Opry commemoration poster and, of course, an incredible cake to share with everyone backstage!
Thank you to the entire staff at the Opry for this big night.
The Grand Ole Opry gave me a wonderful celebration to honour my 5 year anniversary (Friday 7 February 2020) as an official Opry member.
It’s been the honour of my life to be a member, and Saturday night was very special.
Opry Chief, Dan Rogers, presented me with a one of a kind Opry commemoration poster.
And, Opry Chief, Dan Rogers, also presented me with an incredible German cake to share with everyone backstage!
Thank you to the entire staff at the Opry for this big night.
The Grand Ole Opry helped me celebrate my 5-year Opry anniversary in style with lots of photos on the big screen, and they even showed a video of my surprise invitation from the great Vince Gill from Friday 7 February 2020.
Trust me, I was totally surprised at that invitation.
That night, in 2020, Vince Gill asked me to perform ‘Farewell Party’ in exchange for becoming a member, and I barely made it through the song.
I performed it this Saturday night (1 February 2025), and hope everyone felt it was a little better!
After we finished our set, Sr. VP/Executive Producer of the Opry, Dan Rogers, presented me with a very special framed poster for my anniversary, and then I was asked to cut the German Chocolate cake to start the backstage party.
Later, Vince Gill, one of country music’s greatest of all-time singer/songwriter/musician honoured us with a visit, guitar in hand, and we all enjoyed talking to him about songs, golf, and we even sang a bit of his huge hit, ‘When I Call Your Name’ (written by Vince Gill).
The entire night at the Opry was one for the memory books.
Be sure you have a visit to the Opry on your bucket list, and do take the backstage tour’
Source
Gene Watson on Facebook
Gene Watson recorded Bill Anderson’s ‘The Truth Is, I Lied’ (co-written with Skip Ewing) and included the track on ‘From The Heart‘ (RMG Records, 2001).
Gene Watson recorded Bill Anderson’s ‘Make Sure You Got It All’ (co-written with Steve Wariner) and included the track on ‘Gene Watson…Sings‘ (Intersound Records, 2003).
Gene Watson recorded Bill Anderson’s ‘When A Man Can’t Get A Woman (Off His Mind)’ (co-written with Sharon Vaughn) and included the track on ‘Gene Watson…Sings‘ (Intersound Records, 2003); Gene Watson re-recorded the track and included it on ‘Real.Country.Music‘ (Fourteen Carat Music, 2016).