Watch Keith Urban, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini & More Wish Grand Ole Opry A Happy 100th Birthday Ahead of ‘Opry 100’

As the Grand Ole Opry celebrates its centennial anniversary in 2025, the revered country music institution will highlight its 100-year history, as well as its present and future, on Wednesday (March 19) when Opry 100: A Live Celebration airs live on NBC and simulcasts on Peacock. The event will be hosted by 29-time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper and Opry member Blake Shelton, who was inducted in 2010.

Ahead of the special, Billboard is exclusively premiering a first-look video with artists including Brad Paisley (inducted in 2001), Keith Urban (2012), Luke Combs and Kelsea Ballerini (both in 2019) wishing the Nashville staple a happy birthday and discussing the institution’s enduring impact on country music. The clip also features “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” hitmaker Barbara Mandrell (inducted in 1972) and “Mama Sang a Song” hitmaker Bill Anderson (inducted in 1961).

“You just walk into the Opry House and you feel the history and the richness of the stories and the people that have made country music what it is,” five-time Country Airplay chart-topper Ballerini says in the video.

Elsewhere, the artists also displayed the close-knit camaraderie the Opry is known for, as they offered up good-natured jokes. “I think it’s great that Blake’s going to host the show,” Anderson says in the video, before adding with a chuckle: “And I look forward to just watching him sweat.”

Other artists who have notched enduring country hits spanning decades will also be included in the special, which will highlight nearly 50 official Grand Ole Opry members over the course of the three-hour show. Opry 100: A Live Celebration will also feature appearances from Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce, Carrie Underwood, Clint Black, Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks, Jamey Johnson, Lady A, Lainey Wilson, Marty Stuart, Reba McEntire, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman, Terri Clark, Trace Adkins, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Randy Travis and more. Other fan favorites — including Aloe Blacc with the McCrary Sisters, Amy Grant, Eric Church, Jelly Roll, Post Malone, The War And Treaty and Yolanda Adams — will also make appearances.

The performances promise to feature and pay homage to an array of legendary artists. McEntire will perform a tribute to the late Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. Tritt and Post Malone will team up on Tritt’s 1993 hit “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” Brooks and Yearwood will fete another iconic country duo, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Elsewhere, Jelly Roll and McBryde will team up to honor another legendary country duo, as they pay tribute to Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. The late Opry great Charley Pride will be honored as Aloe Blacc and The McCrary Sisters perform Pride’s “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’.”

Meanwhile, Pearce will honor Dolly Parton, while Shelton will team with Adkins and Black to celebrate country music’s ’90s era of country music with a nostalgic ’90s Party Jam. Speaking of ’90s country music, a tribute to that decade wouldn’t be complete without a classic Alan Jackson song, and the Country Music Hall of Famer himself will perform his timeless anthem “Chattahoochee.”

Elsewhere, Keith Urban will honor Crystal Gayle with a rendition of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” (with Gayle herself to be watching in the audience). Barbara Mandrell will introduce Kelsea Ballerini, who will perform Mandrell’s “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”

The upcoming special spotlights how the Grand Ole Opry, radio’s longest-running show and broadcast on WSM-AM, has evolved to become a multimedia, global juggernaut through the decades, reaching fans through not only radio, but television, social media and digital streaming platforms. Since launching in 1925, the Grand Ole Opry has called several Nashville buildings home, among them the Ryman Auditorium (from 1943-1974), and the Grand Ole Opry House (home of the Opry since 1974). The special will feature artist performances from both iconic venues.

“NBC is proud to continue expanding its commitment to the genre, offering both iconic performances that highlight the impact and relevance of country music,” Jen Neal, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Exec. VP, Live Events & Specials, told Billboard in a statement. “Opry 100: A Live Celebration reflects country music’s enduring influence on the American musical landscape, and NBC is honored to be a platform for its continued growth.”

Opry 100: A Live Celebration airs on NBC and will stream on Peacock on Wednesday, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The special marks NBC’s fourth live television event from Nashville in the past two years. The telecast will be executive produced by Silent House Productions’ Emmy Award winners Baz Halpin, Mark Bracco and Linda Gierahn, along with R.A. Clark and Steve Buchanan.

See the exclusive video below: