Jon Pardi getting a nice little surprise while performing in front of his home crowd.
The California native took the stage tonight in his home state for the first night of Stagecoach in Indio, California. But at the end of his set, he got a big surprise from a country music legend.
Guy Fieri took the stage to introduce a video from Alan Jackson inviting Pardi to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry – and become the first California native to become a member in the Opry’s history:
“I get the honor to invite you in front of all your Stagecoach friends out there to be the first native of California to become an official member of the Grand Ole Opry.”
A clearly emotional Pardi was joined onstage by Opry VP & Executive Producer Dan Rogers to welcome Pardi to the Opry family:
“This guy makes the Opry happen.
He debuted on the Opry stage almost 10 years ago, and we love it every time he comes onto the show…
And tonight is historic because Jon, not only are you the first person ever invited to become an Opry member here at Stagecoach, this guy is the first native Californian ever to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry.”
Pardi then spoke about what it means to get an invite to the historic club – after taking a celebratory shot of tequila:
“I moved to Nashville chasing a dream at 22 years old and now I’m here. I love you guys and I love country music.
Thank you everybody. This is an amazing night. I’ll never forget it. I guess if you want to come visit Tennessee I’ll see you at the Grand Ole Opry now.”
A well deserved honor from a guy leading the charge to keep real country music alive. And pretty damn cool that he gets to be the first member of the Opry from the state of California in the institution’s long history.
@whiskeyriff
