Grand Ole Opry Celebrates 5000th Saturday Night On Air With Star-Studded Show

Pictured (L-R): Connie Smith, The Gatlin Brothers, Bill Anderson, Darius Rucker, Terri Clark, Chris Janson. Photo: Rachael Black

The Grand Ole Opry celebrated a giant milestone Saturday night with its historic 5,000th Saturday night broadcast featuring a star-studded lineup of performances from Bill Anderson, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Chris Janson, Dustin Lynch, Darius Rucker, Terri Clark, John Conlee, The Gatlin Brothers, Vince Gill, The Isaacs, Jeannie Seely, Connie Smith, and Chris Young.

The first musical number of the night celebrated Opry pioneers who heard the Opry on the radio then brought the musical styles from their regions of the country to the Opry stage. Anderson, Smith, The Gatlin Brothers, Rucker, Clark, and Janson performed “Wabash Cannonball,” “Jambalaya,” “San Antonio Rose,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” during the geographical tribute, respectively.

Trisha Yearwood & Garth Brooks. Photo: Rachael Black

The two-hour extravaganza featured a mix of styles celebrating the past, present, and future of country music, and led to show closers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who offered several of their hits and a duet on “In Another’s Eyes.”

Last night’s milestone show concluded a month of celebrations that included a limited-time tour exhibit “Opry Memories: Celebrating 5,000 Saturday Night Broadcasts,” special programming on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom, and more.

The Opry has been on the air longer than any other broadcast program of any medium anywhere in the world, and has continued to produce original shows for 5,000 Saturday nights through the Great Depression, World War II, two Nashville floods and, most recently, a global pandemic.