Editing Grand Ole Opry (section)

==Membership==
{{main|List of Grand Ole Opry members}}

[[File:Mel Tillis Asked to Join Opry (3460914437).jpg|thumb|180px|right|New members are invited to join the Opry by other members. Here, [[Mel Tillis]] (right) receives his Opry induction offer from [[Bill Anderson (singer)|Bill Anderson]], 2007.]]
[[File:Jeannie Seely at the Opry.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Jeannie Seely]] (pictured at the Opry in 2012) has made the most appearances on the ''Grand Ole Opry'', inducted as a member in 1967, she has made over 5,000 appearances on the Opry, more than anyone else.]]
Regular performers at the Grand Ole Opry can be inducted into the organization as a member. Opry management, when it decides to induct a new member, directs an existing member to publicly ask them to join, usually during a live episode; an induction ceremony happens several weeks later, where the inductee is presented with a trophy and gives an acceptance speech. As the Opry is a running series, membership in the show's cast must be maintained throughout an artist's career, through frequent performances, and expires when the performer dies. Only once has a member been inducted posthumously: [[Keith Whitley]], who was scheduled to be invited three weeks after his death in May 1989, was retroactively classified as a member in October 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keith Whitley to be celebrated by Garth Brooks, more, at October Opry event |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/09/15/keith-whitley-to-be-celebrated-by-garth-brooks-more-at-october-opry-event/70863977007/ |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}}</ref> Duos and groups remain members until all members have died; following the death of a member, the others maintain Opry membership. More recent protocols have allowed performers who are incapacitated or retired (such as [[Barbara Mandrell]], [[Jeanne Pruett]], [[Stu Phillips (country singer)|Stu Phillips]] and [[Ricky Van Shelton]]) to maintain Opry membership until they die. [[Randy Travis]] has maintained his Opry membership largely through non-singing appearances since his 2013 stroke, while [[Loretta Lynn]] was granted similar accommodation from 2017 until her 2022 death. The Opry maintains a wall of fame listing every member of the Opry in the show's history. Receiving Opry membership is considered an honor that is similar in prestige to a [[Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Fame]] induction, with the caveat that a number of prominent country musicians never received it. When [[Don Schlitz]] was inducted on August 30, 2022, he became the first-ever member of the Opry inducted for his songwriting and not as a performer, having begun regular appearances only after Travis's incapacitation, performing songs he had written for Travis and for non-Opry member [[Kenny Rogers]]. The Opry also has a history of inviting [[stand-up comedy|comedians]] to join the cast, though none were invited to join between [[Jerry Clower]]'s induction in 1973 and when [[Henry Cho]] and [[Gary Mule Deer]] became members in 2023. Following the induction of [[Steven Curtis Chapman]] (the first and only [[contemporary Christian music]]ian to earn Opry membership<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGinnis |first=Interview by Kelsey Kramer |date=2024-10-31 |title=Steven Curtis Chapman Joins Country Music Royalty |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/10/steven-curtis-chapman-grand-ole-opry-interview-country/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=Christianity Today |language=en-US}}</ref>) in November 2024, there are 74 active members, plus the Opry Square Dancers, who enjoy ''[[sui generis]]'' membership status and open every Saturday show.