Dustin Lynch Invited to Join the Grand Ole Opry
Dustin Lynch will soon be the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. Trace Adkins delivered Lynch's Opry induction invitation on Tuesday night (Aug. 21).
Adkins was celebrating a special occasion himself on Tuesday night: Aug. 23 will mark the 15th anniversary of his Grand Ole Opry induction. He closed out Tuesday's show with a set of his own, but before that, Adkins jumped onstage during Lynch's performance to surprise the singer with the news of his impending Opry membership.
"This is my 15th anniversary, so I can do whatever I want. So I wanted to come out here and talk to Dustin just for a second ...," Adkins said from stage. "I was just wondering if -- you're gonna be back here playing on Sept. 18, I heard? Well, I'm here to tell you that when you play here on Sept. 18, it will be as the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry."
Lynch, welling up with emotion, looked shocked. He removed his trademark cowboy hat, scratched his head and told Adkins, "I wish you weren't so big. I wanted to pick you up, but I couldn't ..." A number of Lynch's team members, as well as his parents, were in the audience on Tuesday night, and, after hugging his band, Lynch thanked them all from stage.
"A lot of things have happened over the past six years," Lynch reflected, noting that his very first Opry performance came on March 2, 2012. "Man, we have so much to celebrate."
Tuesday night was a big night at the Grand Ole Opry: In addition to Lynch's induction invite and Adkins' anniversary performance, Montgomery Gentry's Eddie Montgomery came out to introduce his nephew, Dillon Carmichael, during Carmichael's Opry debut. Carmichael -- who once worked security at the Grand Ole Opry -- had his mother, Becky, sing background vocals for him on Tuesday night.
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