Jon Pardi inducted by Garth Brooks as newest Grand Ole Opry member

When award-winning and chart-topping country star Jon Pardi was a child attending elementary school in Northern California, he often claimed he was named for country stars, including George Strait, Merle Haggard and Garth Brooks.

Thus, the look of shock on the "Last Night Lonely" vocalist's face was entirely honest Tuesday as he was officially inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by Brooks himself.

"This is me and you joined in holy matrimony shared by our love of country music," said Brooks as he stepped into the vaunted circle at 2804 Opryland Drive with Pardi to hand him the official Opry member award.

"It's full circle to watch my hero, from flying around an arena in concert to right now," said Pardi. "I love the Opry and being a part of its family. The future is so bright."

Pardi is the first native Californian to accept Opry membership.

Opry membership is not typically offered to California natives because relatively few have moved to Music City, like Pardi. However, one of the "requirements" of being a regular cast member of the Opry is being regularly featured. Of course, this requires being based in the Nashville's area — or at least in Nashville enough to fulfill that requirement.

It's been a 15-year climb for Pardi from arriving in Music City and playing covers of Don Williams' "Tulsa Time" at Losers Bar and Grill to wearing a custom-inscribed sports coat from NFL-favored tailor Karndeep Mander and singing platinum-selling singles to the Opry faithful as a cast member of the near century-old country music standard-bearing broadcast.

In statements made prior to his induction, the unrepentant glee on Pardi's face as he described watching Kentucky bluegrass bands and legendary Opry members like Ricky Skaggs warming up backstage, moments running into fellow country music history buffs like Dierks Bentley, or having inspirational conversations with the late Charlie Daniels also felt authentic.

Grand Ole Opry Executive Producer Dan Rogers offered that he'd waited nearly three years to make the offer to Pardi to join the Opry, citing his reverence for the institution's history, as well as his ability to blend Bakersfield-style country, the genre's countrypolitan traditions and modern evolutions as deciding factors.

The first night of Indio, California's 14th Stagecoach Festival received an unexpected trip to Music City when chef and television host Guy Fieri announced that Alan Jackson had a greeting for Pardi via a massive on-stage projection screen.

Jackson then invited Pardi to become a member of the Opry cast.

"The Grand Ole Opry has always meant a lot to me and everyone in country music," Jackson said, "and I've been appreciating your music since you were touring with me a couple of years ago (the tandem toured in 2015). I get the honor to invite you in front of all your Stagecoach friends out there to be the first native of California to become an official member of the Grand Ole Opry."

As one of his first activities as an official Opry member, Pardi will be kicking off the third season of Opry Country Christmas on Nov. 26. It will continue the rollout of his first Christmas album, "Merry Christmas From Jon Pardi," on Oct. 27.

Tickets for Opry Country Christmas are currently available at https://www.opry.com/show/2023-11-26-opry-country-christmas-show-at-7-pm.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jon Pardi inducted by Garth Brooks as newest Grand Ole Opry member