Good Time Charlie
The country music institution has made some curious picks for membership in the past, but in choosing one of Nashville's most beloved and talented players, the Opry gets it right
Nashville is a town of unsung heroes — of both “your favorite artist’s favorite artist” and session musicians who can play circles around the more celebrated front people. It’s also a town that usually waits until it’s far too late to recognize any of them, if at all. The Mississippi-born Charlie Worsham is all of these things: performer, player, songwriter, ally, and beloved member of the community. And last Friday, Vince Gill announced that Worsham would be the newest inductee to the Grand Ole Opry.
It’s about damn time a Music City institution got something so right.
The Grand Ole Opry, since it began as the WSM Barn Dance in 1925, is a uniquely country music legacy. Different from a hall of fame, it honors living artists who can regularly perform in the weekly broadcast as part of their membership. Its other requirements for induction, however, are a bit murky. Sales, touring impact, radio airplay, and peer recognition all play a role, but there are no set benchmarks that a candidate must hit. The Opry sometimes takes far too long to induct an artist, or it jumps too soon for someone clocking ephemeral country radio hits while skipping over a more deserving but less flashy option, like, say, Elizabeth Cook, who has racked up more than 400 Opry appearances and has yet to become a member. (Jelly Roll was inducted in March.)
