{"id":30642,"date":"2026-08-07T04:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30642"},"modified":"2026-08-07T04:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:05:22","slug":"we-cant-believe-these-country-stars-arent-in-the-grand-ole-opry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30642","title":{"rendered":"We Can&#8217;t Believe These Country Stars Aren&#8217;t in the Grand Ole Opry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Membership into the <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/grand-ole-opry\/\">Grand Ole Opry<\/a> is hardly a given for country music&#8217;s most popular and successful singers. In fact, this list of stars who aren&#8217;t members is nearly as impressive as a list of stars who are.<\/p>\n<h3>Which Country Stars Are Not Members of the Grand Ole Opry?<\/h3>\n<p>True or false?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/blake-shelton\/\">Blake Shelton<\/a> is a member of the Grand Ole Opry.<\/p>\n<p>What about <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/toby-keith\/\">Toby Keith<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/rascal-flatts\/\">Rascal Flatts<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/george-strait\/\">George Strait<\/a>? Are they members, and if not, why?<\/p>\n<p>Two of these four artists are among the members of the Grand Ole Opry, and two are not.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opry.com\/artists\/membership\" target=\"_blank\">Opry explains\u00a0how it chooses new members<\/a> and what someone needs to do to earn membership, but explanations for why an icon like <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/hank-williams-jr\/\">Hank Williams Jr.<\/a> isn&#8217;t a member can only be offered by the man himself.<\/p>\n<p>Keep scrolling. We asked Hank this question, and his answer is perfect!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Three to six new Grand Ole Opry members are inducted each year.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly 250 singers and celebrities have been inducted since the first member (Uncle Jimmy Thompson) in 1925.<\/li>\n<li>Bill Anderson is the oldest living member. The 87-year-old was inducted in July 1961.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"branded-app-shortcode-inarticle\">\n<div class=\"logo-wrap\" rel=\"fwef\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/townsquare.media\/site\/252\/files\/2022\/01\/attachment-popcrush-1.jpg?w=100\" alt=\"PopCrush logo\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>How Does the Grand Ole Opry Select Its Members?<\/h3>\n<p>Rules and guidelines for earning Grand Ole Opry membership are subjective.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>READ MORE:<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/artists-not-in-the-county-music-hall-of-fame\/\">Can You Believe These Country Stars Aren&#8217;t in the Hall of Fame?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The website shares that they want a generational balance among members.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s visible in a list of new members from 2020 to 2025:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/lainey-wilson\/\">Lainey Wilson<\/a>, T. Graham Brown, <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/scotty-mccreery\/\">Scotty McCreery<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/jon-pardi\/\">Jon Pardi<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/sara-evans\/\">Sara Evans<\/a>, G\u1ea3y Mule Deer, Henry Cho, <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/jamey-johnson\/\">Jamey Johnson<\/a> and Don Schlitz are just a few.<\/p>\n<p>The Opry also looks at past success and potential for future success, although &#8220;success&#8221; is not defined.<\/p>\n<p>One thing is certain: an artist needs to want it. Actually, they need to <em>really<\/em> want it.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of great country music singers and Grand Ole Opry performers have never been invited, but we picked the\u00a031 most iconic stars.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a list that features 15 Entertainers of the Year and\u00a0eight Country Music Hall of Famers.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, only living artists can become members. That sounds obvious, but it means there will be no posthumous inductions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"photogallery-wrapper blog-photogallery \">\n<h2 class=\"photogallery-title\">31 Country Stars You Won&#8217;t Believe Aren&#8217;t Grand Ole Opry Members<\/h2>\n<div class=\"photogallery-description\">\n<div>There are 76 members of the Grand Ole Opry as of March 2025, but that doesn&#8217;t include 15 living CMA or ACM Entertainers of the Year and several Country Music Hall of Famers. <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/george-strait\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">George Strait,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/kenny-chesney\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Kenny Chesney <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/tags\/willie-nelson\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Willie Nelson<\/a> are three legends who rarely play the Grand Ole Opry. Why?<\/div>\n<p>That answer is often difficult to determine, but this list of stars you won&#8217;t believe aren&#8217;t members suggests reasons where appropriate. <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.opry.com\/artists\/membership\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Membership<\/a> into the Grand Ole Opry comes with an obligation to play the show frequently, but that&#8217;s often set aside (Barbara Mandrell is an inactive member, for example). Only living artists are considered, and once a member dies, they are no longer a member.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"photogallery-credit\">Gallery Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/country-stars-who-arent-grand-ole-opry-members\/\" target=\"_blank\">Billy Dukes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"photogallery-wrapper blog-photogallery \">\n<h2 class=\"photogallery-title\">59 Artists Not in the Country Music Hall of Fame<\/h2>\n<div class=\"photogallery-description\">\n<p>Which county singer is most deserving of a Country Music Hall of Fame induction? Here are 59 artists who don&#8217;t have a medallion yet, with some thoughts on when each is eligible and if their fans can expect that nod soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"photogallery-credit\">Gallery Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/tasteofcountry.com\/author\/billydukes\/\" target=\"_blank\">Billy Dukes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/popcrush.com\/rest\/carbon\/api\/scripts.js?mver=63&#038;gver=10&#038;bid=252&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fbtloader.com%2Ftag%3Fo%3D5642230212591616%26upapi%3Dtrue&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.p-n.io%2Fpushly-sdk.min.js%3Fdomain_key%3DQt0jyGgiLtltNrdtnDzncATqSK9PT5Eib9iw&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Ftownsquare.media%2Fpublic%2Fresources%2Fjs%2Fpubcid.min.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fplatform.twitter.com%2Fwidgets.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fapis.google.com%2Fjs%2Fplatform.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fconnect.facebook.net%2Fen_US%2Fsdk.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.pinterest.com%2Fjs%2Fpinit.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\" async defer data-osano=\"ESSENTIAL\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Membership into the Grand Ole Opry is hardly a given for country music&#8217;s most popular and successful singers. In fact, this list of stars who aren&#8217;t members is nearly as impressive as a list of stars who are. Which Country Stars Are Not Members of the Grand Ole Opry? True or false?\u00a0Blake Shelton is a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/townsquare.media\/site\/204\/files\/2019\/08\/attachment-New-Albums-2023-1.jpg?w=1200&q=75&format=natural","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}