Reba McEntire celebrated the 40^th Anniversary of her Grand Ole Opry debut last Friday night (Sept. 22) with two sold-out shows and a surprise appearance from Dolly Parton. During the shows she performed the first song she ever sang at the venue, “Invitation To The Blues,” her induction song “Somebody Should Leave,” the theme song “Survivor” from her six-season sitcom Reba, and her signature tune “Fancy.” Fellow Opry members Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood also got in on the fun, joining her onstage for “Oklahoma Swing” and “Does He Love You,” respectively.

As part of the special celebration commemorating McEntire’s induction into the Opry family on January 17, 1986, surprise guest Dolly Parton stopped by and recalled how she made a last-minute Opry appearance on the night of Reba’s debut. Unknowingly reducing McEntire’s set to one song, Parton jokingly “gave the time back” and sweetly celebrated her friend.

She was also surprised during the celebration by RIAA President Mitch Glazier with a plaque commemorating more than 40 million in RIAA certifications across 27 albums. Reba is second only to Barbra Streisand for female recording artists with the most Gold (or higher) albums, which count sales and streams in the United States only. Streisand has sold over 56 million total albums worldwide.

“It was a lot of fun. It was nerve-wracking; it was scary. This means the world to me,” Reba said. “It’s been a wonderful 40 years. I couldn’t have done it without you, and I wouldn’t have wanted to!”

The superstar also just announced a new partnership with the Justin Boot Company, the REBA by Justin collection, which will launch Holiday 2017 at select retailers nationwide. The new line features Reba’s take on classic western boots, booties and casuals, and draws inspiration from pieces of her life story.

Carter Winter dropped by the BMI Nashville office to affiliate as a songwriter for performing rights representation. The BMI affiliation follows Winter’s recently announced signing with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation, a deal that includes both publishing and an album.

Winter recently visited the MusicRow offices to preview tracks from his upcoming album, and to discuss his deal with Roc Nation.

Darius Rucker celebrated the chart-topping success of his eighth No. 1 single, “If I Told You,” along with the song’s writers Jon Nite (ASCAP), Ross Copperman (BMI) and Shane McAnally (GMR) during an event at the newly-opened Nashville entertainment complex TopGolf.

Among those celebrating the song’s trek to the top of the charts were ASCAP’s Sr. Creative Director Mike Sistad, BMI Associate Creative Director Josh Tomlinson, GMR COO Sean O’Malley, SMACKSongs Sr. Creative Director Lee Krabel, Sony/ATV SR. VP, Nashville A&R Josh Van Valkenburg, and Rezonant Music Publishing CEO Tim Wipperman.

“It is truly an honor to represent you every day,” Universal Music Group Nashville CEO Mike Dungan told Rucker. “I want to be in business with you for the rest of my life. I want to tell you how fulfilling it is to work records that are not only great records but also great songs.”

Copperman, who also produced the track, offered praise to Rucker and to his fellow songwriters as well as his publisher. “Thanks to Jon for being the first guy to ever write with me in town. Shane for even letting me be in the room with you. Both of these guys are titan and just poets of our time. I was in the room with the two of these guys today and there’s not much room for any other words to be thrown in with the two of these guys going at it.”

McAnally said of Rucker, “He is the humblest, realest, the best. It’s an honor to have him sing any of my songs, especially one that was a single. Finally.”

McAnally went on to praise his fellow writers and the track. “Darius and I were talking about the length of time this record took. These days, we can have everything so fast on our phones, we get through the verse of a song before we switch it and the melody and the track of this song and his vocal performance sort of gave you the impression that you didn’t even need to listen to the words because it sounds so catchy. So the song had like a six-month life before people started going, ‘Have you listened to what this song says?’ It’s this strange combination of ear candy and hard core lyrics. You get the opportunity to write real lyrics and real stories.”

Rucker said, “When [“If I Told You”] was brought to me, it moved me the minute I heard it. It was a song that I felt the God of the universe or whatever you want to call it was sending it to me. It was like, ‘This is for you,’ and I’m blessed to get to sing that song for the rest of my life. To Ross, changing producers is always a hard thing to do, but this was one of the first songs we cut. We had to change the key because Jon sings too damn good and higher than me, so we changed the key. We recorded it and he played it back and I instantly thought, ‘This is exactly what I want to sound like.’

He also thanked Brian Wright, Mike Dungan and the rest of the Capitol Nashville staff. “I love being with a label that cares about me so much and lets me be the artist I want to be. Thank you for working as hard as you did to get this song to No. 1.”

Rucker also offered attendees a brief set to preview music from his upcoming fifth studio country album, When Was The Last Time, which will be released via Capitol Records Nashville on Oct. 20. He performed the fan-favorite “Don’t,” and the earnest “Another Night With You.”

“Ross and I were doing our first day of recording and we’d cut like five songs. I played this song and his face just blew up,” Rucker says of hearing “Another Night With You.” “The guys were packing up their stuff and he was like, ‘Hey, guys you’ve got time for one more song?’ We cut the song and this is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever recorded as a singer. “

“I love writing songs, but sometimes you get outside songs that you just have to record,” he said of another album cut “Twenty Something.” ” This song had something for everybody and it’s what life is all about.”

He also offered up the sensual “Hands On Me,” before wrapping with a rendition of his hit single “Wagon Wheel.”

Complete track listing for When Was The Last Time:
1. “For the First Time” (Darius Rucker, Derek George, Scooter Carusoe)
2. “Bring It On” (Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson)
3. “Life’s Too Short” (Copperman, Jon Nite, Jaren Johnston)
4. “If I Told You” (Copperman, Shane McAnally, Nite)
5. “Don’t” (Adam Doleac, A.J. Babcock, Pete Good)
6. “Twenty Something” (McAnally, Nite, Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne)
7. “Straight to Hell” with Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Charles Kelley (Kevin Kinney)
8. “Count the Beers” (Rucker, Dean Dillon, Josh Thompson)
9. “Another Night With You” (Rucker, Dillon, Josh Thompson)
10. “Hands On Me” (Copperman, McAnally, J.T. Harding)
11. “She” (Chris Tompkins, Rodney Clawson)
12. “Story to Tell” (Copperman, Gorley, Rucker)

The third annual Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival was held over the weekend (Sept. 23 and 24) at The Park at Harlinsdale in Franklin, Tennessee.

Launched in 2015 by Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, the festival featured performances by top-name headliners including Justin Timberlake, whose performance on Saturday night included special guests Chris Stapleton and his wife Morgane, and Eddie Vedder who closed out the festival on Sunday night.

Other artists who took to one of five stages included Ryan Adams, The Avett Brothers, Mavis Staples, Gary Clark Jr., Better Than Ezra, Walk The Moon, Fitz and The Tantrums, among others. For the full 2017 lineup click here.

MusicRow recently discussed this year’s Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival with festival co-producers Kevin Griffin and Michael Whelan.