Five Things the Grand Ole Opry Should Actually Apologize For

by Julian Spivey
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Julian Spivey Photo

The Grand Ole Opry, the oldest show in country music, apologized recently after performer Elle King appeared on the Friday, January 19 show inebriated, slurring her words and using profane language.

King’s performance was during an episode celebrating the 78th birthday of Country and Rock Hall of Famer Dolly Parton, which included King saying: “You ain’t getting your money back,” to a heckler and adding: “I’ll tell you one thing more: ‘Hi, my name is Elle King [and] I’m fucking hammered.”

Now, I get that those in attendance were disappointed at this one segment during a show that features multiple performers and King should be ashamed of her behavior at the venue (I won’t ever condone an artist giving less than they should for an audience) but for the Grand Ole Opry itself as an entity to publicly apologize for King’s behavior seems unnecessary to me, especially given the fact that there are numerous things the Grand Ole Opry has done throughout the years worthy of an apology that hasn’t happened.

Here are five things I’d now like the Grand Ole Opry to apologize for if it is all of a sudden on an apology tour:

5. Helping the decline of the genre it claims to love by inducting members who have helped set the genre back.

Most of the members of the Grand Ole Opry are completely deserving of the honor and uphold the standards of what the genre of country music should be and others have done the job mostly well, while also slipping with the occasional foray into money-chasing idiocy (Trace Adkins/Jamey Johnson I still can’t forgive y’all for “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk). But the Opry has also inducted some head-scratchers – Rascal Flatts, Kelsea Ballerini, Dustin Lynch. Now the Opry is pretty strict about its membership with a certain number of performances one has to meet for induction into the club but if you look at the names of the legends not involved (Willie Nelson, George Strait) and compare it to those involved you’ll see the Opry isn’t all it's cracked up to be.

4. They banned Neko Case for what?

Neko Case may not be a household name in the country music genre and I completely understand that. Her music is maybe more aligned with that of indie rock, folk rock and Americana but she was closely enough aligned with country music that the Opry once had her perform at the venue’s Grand Ole Opry Plaza Party just outside the Grand Ole Opry House in the summer of 2001. Anyone who’s ever lived down south can tell you summers get blazing hot and when Case was performing the show and began to feel signs of potential heat stroke. When her requests for water went unheard and she started to feel dizzy from the heat she removed her shirt to help cool off. Now, sure, the Grand Ole Opry has always been deemed a family-friendly show but it’s not like Case was just flashing her breasts to the public, she was wearing a bra, which is as revealing if not less so than the average bathing suit seen at any summer outing. She was banned from the Opry and has never been back.

Maybe it’s a woman thing? Is there a double standard?

Getting back to King for a moment, Dolly Parton’s sister Stella Parton, who for some reason has become quite the social media star, tweeted: “But let me just say this, it wouldn’t be the first time a Hillbilly went on the stage of the Opry ‘hammered,’ but I guess it’s OK if you’re a male. But good lord don’t ever let a girl behave that way folks! Double fucking standard if ya ask me. So the Opry is apologizing! Lol.” I should note Stella Parton’s tweets weren’t all friendly toward King.

3. This is the same Grand Ole Opry that once fired arguably the two most important artists in the history of country music.

The Grand Ole Opry once fired both Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. That’s what they should be apologizing for! Williams was fired by the Opry in 1952 for failure to show up for a performance – which, again, the artist should always do their best to show up for a performance, but canning the guy who is maybe more synonymous with country music than anybody ever was or would ever be is ridiculous. The Opry could have reinstated Williams’ membership posthumously but never has. The Opry has, however, inducted Keith Whitley, who had many similarities to Williams, posthumously (the only time that’s ever happened).

The Opry also banned Johnny Cash and yes, at the time you could argue he deserved it, as he went on an inebriated rampage smashing the stage’s lights out with the mic stand. The Opry did eventually invite Cash back to play the venue in his later years, but the “Man in Black” was never inducted as a member – maybe he didn’t have the status of a Chris Janson?

2. Drunken Cursing is Bad, But Racist Slurs Are Apparently OK in the Eyes of the Opry

So, I considered making this number one, but I simply can’t get over the timing of what they did for the No. 1 choice on my list. But, I find it incredibly discouraging that the Grand Ole Opry had country mullet king Morgan Wallen at its venue in January 2022 less than a year after being caught on camera drunkenly using the N-word. Despite what some called a “cancellation,” Wallen remained a top-selling star throughout the entire time he was supposedly being punished and being on what many consider country music’s most hallowed stage less than a year later came off as a blessing of the artist. It was a moment that dismayed many within the Nashville community, though more so within the adjacent Americana community than the mainstream country music one. Black performer Joy Oladokun wrote: “Morgan Wallen’s thoughtless redemption tour is the nail in the coffin for me realizing these systems and this town is not really for us.” The quick and painless return of Wallen into the country music community is the most damning moment for the Opry in modern times.

1. They invited President Nixon DURING the Watergate Scandal

Country music has the stereotype among many of being a bit backward and those of us who love the music can often be hurt by that image – but then the gatekeepers of the genre will do things like the top two things on this very list – that makes us have to explain to others that “we ain’t all like that.”

On March 16, 1974, the Grand Ole Opry debuted its brand new venue after relocating from the famed Ryman Auditorium, which would go into years of non-use and dilapidation after the move and the institution should apologize for that too, and to kick off the big bash it invited President Richard Nixon to dedicate the venue and also lead the audience in renditions of “My Wild Irish Rose” and “God Bless America.” But you see 1974 was right amid the Watergate Scandal in which President Nixon had been involved in the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and its attempted cover-up and lying to the American public about it. The Opry didn’t seem to care, President Nixon was its President. It was just another instance of country music looking out of step with the rest of the country. President Nixon would become the first and to this day only President of the United States to resign in shame. God Bless America.