Connie Smith To Celebrate 50 Years As Opry Member

Connie Smith

On August 8, Connie Smith will celebrate her 50th anniversary as an Opry member.

Smith will be honored during two shows that evening featuring Alison Krauss, Del McCoury, Jeannie Seely, Smith’s husband Marty Stuart, Mel Tillis, and The Whites.

“We look forward to honoring one of the greatest voices and one of the most beautiful souls the Grand Ole Opry has ever known,” said Opry Vice President/General Manager Pete Fisher. “Connie has delivered unbelievable performances on the Opry stage for decades, and we look forward to reminding her how much her fans and fellow artists love her spirit and her music.”

Growing up as a shy girl who was the eighth in a family of 14, Smith once proclaimed at five years old that “someday I’m gonna sing on the Grand Ole Opry.” Throughout the course of her career Smith recorded and made famous hits like “Once A Day,” the chart-topper that became the first debut single by a female country act to reach No. 1 and spent eight weeks at the top.

The Opry itself celebrates a 90 year history this year.

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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