NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (April 29, 2023) – Capitol Records Multi-Platinum singer/songwriter/producer Jon Pardi was surprised last night during his performance in Indo, CA at country music’s premier festival Stagecoach, when his friend and Emmy-winning famed restaurateur, author Guy Fieri directed him and the attention of his thousands of cheering fans to a video where Opry member and Country Music Hall of Famer Alan Jackson appeared officially inviting the California native to become the newest member of the Opry. Click HERE to watch Alan’s invitation.
“That mic stand represents the future of country music as well as its incredible history,”
DAN ROGERS
Opry executive producer, told the crowd after he sat the Opry mic stand down in front of a surprised Pardi. “This night will go down in history, too, both because Jon is the first artist invited to join the Opry on this stage and because he’s the first native Californian to get that call. What a great night!”
“I moved to Nashville chasing a dream at 22 years old and now I’m here. I love you guys and I love country music. Thank you, everybody. This is an amazing night. I’ll never forget it,”
JON PARDI
said an emotional Pardi from stage before later in the night noting “I always wondered how this might happen if it was going to. I never imagined anything this great. That was incredible.”
“There is no better representation of Northern California than you, man,”
guy fieri
Coming just a week after receiving his third consecutive ACM Album of the Year nomination (for being both artist and producer for Mr. Saturday Night), the invitation to become an Opry member was made even more special because it happened in his native home state of California in front of his home state fans. Pardi will become the first native Californian to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. An official induction date will be announced soon.
Since first hitting the country landscape, Jon Pardi has long since separated himself from the pack, carving a lane that was all his own by producing, writing, and singing songs he created from the melodies up, and earning praise for it. “Jon Pardi cut a path through modern country’s embrace of pop, hip-hop and EDM” (The New York Times) with “an emboldened work… a distilling of his sound into a more potent form that draws both vitality and assurance from his anything-but-sterile relationship to his tradition’s modern era” (NPR). With his “state-of-the-art blend of traditional instrumentation and progressive grooves that point to country’s future” (Rolling Stone), Pardi is “a leader among a growing number of artists bringing back fiddle, steel and twang” (People). “Even when he’s singing sad songs, he wants people to have a good time” (Associated Press).
Named a “hero in the making” (Variety), Pardi has earned five No. 1s on country radio and is noted for his “long-lasting mark on the genre” (MusicRow) and his impressive ability to carve out his own path creating “the kind of country music multiple generations came to know, and love can still wok on a mass scale” (Variety). Filled with fiddle, twang and steel guitar, Pardi continues to “apply new ideas to country’s old sounds” (Los Angeles Times) and “bring authenticity back into Country music” (People).
Among the artists scheduled to appear on the Opry in the coming weeks include Lauren Alaina, Bill Anderson, Deana Carter, Steven Curtis Chapman, The Isaacs, Chris Janson, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Lorrie Morgan, The Oak Ridge Boys, Michael Ray, Ricky Skaggs, Jeannie Seely, Josh Turner, Rhonda Vincent, Carrie Underwood, The War and Treaty, and Lainey Wilson, among many others.
Tickets are on sale now for all Opry 2023 at (615) 871-OPRY and opry.com.
About Jon Pardi:
Multi-Platinum award-winning singer/songwriter/producer Jon Pardi has refined and defined a country sound that gets people drinking, dancing and drowning their heartaches. His fourth studio album, Mr. Saturday Night, earned Pardi his third consecutive ACM Album of the Year nomination and proved Pardi has “blazed his own trail over the past decade” (Billboard), with Taste of Country noting, his “refusal to chase sets Mr. Saturday Night apart” and Nash News raving, Mr. Saturday Night “proves he might be the most successful at combining the old-school sound with today’s need for hooks.”The album reunited Bart Butler, Ryan Gore and Pardi- the same producing team behind the boards of his critically-acclaimed album, Heartache Medication, and produced the award-winning artist/producers’ fifth #1 single “Last Night Lonely,” as well as his current radio single, “Your Heart Or Mine.” Mr. Saturday Night follow’s Pardi’s album, Heartache Medication, which debuted among the top albums on Billboard’s Country Albums chart and was named in 2019 Rolling Stone’s “Best Album of the Year” and by the Los Angeles Times as one of the (Top 10) “Best Albums of the Year,” as well as his breakthrough Platinum-selling album, California Sunrise, which featured the multi-platinum, chart-topping hits “Dirt On My Boots,” “Head Over Boots,” “Heartache On The Dance Floor” and “Night Shift.” The unrepentant Cali-tonker acclaimed by The New York Times, Cowboys & Indians, Variety, Rolling Stone, NPR and the Los Angeles Times has appeared on Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, TODAY, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Kelly Clarkson Show and more. Pardi recently announced his 2023 Mr. Saturday Night World Tour, which will kick off in Northern Ireland and across the UK and Europe starting in August, before launching its US run starting in September.
For more information, including touring and ticket sale information, visit JonPardi.com.
About the Grand Ole Opry
Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, Tenn. The Opry can be heard at opry.com and wsmonline.com, SiriusXM: Willie’s Roadhouse, and its flagship home, 650 AM-WSM, with Saturday night shows seen on the Circle Network. For more information, visit opry.com.
