Remember When Luke Combs Cried After He Was Surprised With an Invitation To Join the Grand Ole Opry?

This was one of the greatest Opry surprises of all time.

Ally Roden

| Posted on

June 11, 2021

10:48 am

On this day in 2019, Luke Combs was overcome with emotions after one of the greatest Opry surprises of all time.

Opry members Chris Janson, Craig Morgan and John Conlee asked the North Carolina native to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and Combs couldn’t hold back his tears upon receiving the invitation.

“What a career this guy is having,” Conlee said at the time. “The Grand Ole Opry wants you to know we just love you.”

“How would you like to be the next member of the Grand Ole Opry?” Janson and Morgan asked him.

Combs immediately broke down in tears.

“Holy cow! Are you serious?” he said. “‘Cause if you’re not serious, that’s really mean.”

The country star was officially inducted into the institution on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Following performances of his chart-topping hits “When It Rains It Pours” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” Opry members Vince Gill and Joe Diffie welcomed Combs to the family. The moment couldn’t have been more perfect for Combs, as he looked up to Gill and Diffie as a child.

“Here I am on stage with people I grew up listening to and people who have shaped me as an artist,” Combs shared with the Opry crowd that night. “I just want to say thank you to you guys, thank you to the Grand Ole Opry, and thank you to the fans — without you all there is no country music, there is no Grand Ole Opry. Thank you so much for everything you guys do for making this possible for guys like us on this stage. I will never forget tonight!”

Country icons including The Gatlin Brothers, Chris Janson, Dustin Lynch, Craig Morgan and Mark Wills showed their support for the new inductee by joining him on stage during this unforgettable night.

Combs understands the magnitude of the induction and couldn’t be more grateful to be part of such a historical institution.

“As far as career achievements go, I mean, to me, this is the number one thing,” the singer shared with Country Now and other reporters. “The sold-out arenas are great, and the sold-out amphitheaters are great, and those are things that you strive for to continue to be able to tour, and continue to have a platform to put your music out there. But, this is just an institution. To me, it’s beyond country music. It is country music. So, being asked was the most amazing, overwhelming, flattering, humbling experience that I ever had. So definitely, it will always and forever be the number one career achievement for me over winning this, or winning that, or going to this, or selling out that. This is the thing that nobody can ever take away from me, which is the thing that I’m so proud of.”