Sara Evans invited to become the latest Grand Ole Opry member at sold-out Ryman concert

The newest member of the Grand Ole Opry will be Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Country Music Association (CMA) award-winning vocalist Sara Evans.

While onstage celebrating the 20th anniversary of her platinum-selling, ACM award-nominated and 2003-released album "Restless," the Opry's newly-minted current longest-serving member, Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson, interrupted her performance to do the honors of inviting her.

Anderson recalled how he had gone to see Sara perform in a small warehouse showcase before her first album was released because she had included his song "Walk Out Backwards" in her debut project.

"It's a long way from that warehouse to selling out the Ryman," Anderson said. He went on to say he had two questions for her, beginning by jokingly asking if she would sing "Walk Out Backwards."

Evans immediately sang an acapella version of the tune.

As she finished, Anderson asked his second question. "The second question is from me and Lady A, Carly, and a bunch of other people. Would you like to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry?"

Evans acknowledged that she'd hoped for Opry membership for years and tearfully accepted. Thanking her mom in the audience for pushing her and her siblings to perform as they were all growing up, Evans said to the crowd, "God is so good."

The moment followed a standing ovation received following Evans' performance of "Suds In The Bucket" alongside 2021 Grand Ole Opry inductee Carly Pearce.

Released in 2004, the now platinum-selling No. 1 selling country song is one of Evans' signature anthems. Following their duet, Pearce introduced trio -- and fellow 2021 Opry inductees -- Lady A to present a plaque commemorating the song's platinum-selling status.

Immediately after that surprise presentation, Lady A's Hillary Scott welcomed Anderson to the stage.

"I remember clearly watching Sara's Opry debut live on television before I ever made the move to Nashville," recalled Grand Ole Opry Executive Producer Dan Rogers in a prepared statement.

"Like nearly anyone about to take that stage for the first time, she was both thankful and overwhelmed, and she told Bill Anderson in an interview in the minutes before her performance that to help with her jitters, she was going to pretend to be Patsy Cline. Watching as a fan at home, I loved that approach."

Evans' induction ceremony date has also been set -- it will be a highlight event on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Opry's 98th birthday weekend.

Notably, three weeks later, Jon Pardi, invited to be an Opry member at the Stagecoach Festival on Apr. 28 by Guy Fieri, Rogers and a video message from Alan Jackson, will be officially inducted into the Opry on Oct. 24, 2023.

Evans and Pardi's inductions will raise the total of Opry inductions since March 2020 to 12 Opry membership additions since Darius Rucker's January 2021 induction. Not since a 1964-65 swing of seven inductions that included membership being granted to performers including Willie Nelson and the previously mentioned Smith being added to the cast have numbers grown so significantly in such a brief period.

In a Feb. 2021 Tennessean feature, longtime Opry member Marty Stuart refers to the Opry's 1964-65 swing of seven inductions, plus those of "Class of 1989" members Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt and himself as reflective of moments when the Opry efforted to align itself with emergent movements as far as younger, more pop-aligned artistry.

"You can always tell if a church is healthy by the number of young people it has in its congregation," Stuart says Smith has often noted in making allegories to the Opry's membership concerning progressions in country music.

For more information on the Grand Ole Opry, visit http://www.opry.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Sara Evans invited to become the latest Grand Ole Opry member at sold-out Ryman concert