Craig Morgan: Singing to an Empty Grand Ole Opry House ‘Was Really Unusual’

Craig Morgan has a home at the Grand Ole Opry, but he admits that Saturday's (April 25) performance felt strange and uncomfortable. Still, the singer is proud to keep a tradition alive and has gone to great lengths to make sure he has a record of what's a historic time.

Luke Combs joined Morgan for the Opry's Saturday night broadcast, the 4,921st straight for the country music institution. It was the first time that Morgan had played the show since the coronavirus-related shutdown began in mid-March.

“It was really unusual," Morgan tells Taste of Country. "It felt uncomfortable, but the whole time we were doing it I just had to appreciate the millions of people that were watching it and listening to it on the radio."

On one hand, it was similar to a recorded television performance — something the 55-year-old has done dozens of times, but never at the Grand Ole Opry. He and Combs (both Opry members) bantered and traded acoustic songs; in addition to "The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost," Morgan sang "That's What I Love About Sundays" and a freshly-written song called "Mask," while Combs played "Hurricane," "When It Rains It Pours," his new quarantine-inspired ballad "Six Feet Away" and more.

Watch Craig Morgan + Luke Combs at the Grand Ole Opry 

Morgan, whose new album, God, Family, Country, drops May 22, tells Taste of Country that he's ordered the Hatch Show Print posters for all of the Opry shows affected by the coronavirus pandemic. "I think this is a very historical event," he reasons.

"Years from now people are going to look back and go, 'Remember the virus that shut the nation down? And the Grand Ole Opry still went [on]?' And I'll have a poster from every show," Morgan adds.

"The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost" is Morgan's song about life after the death of his son, Jerry Greer, who died in a boating accident in July of 2016.

WATCH: Craig Morgan Opens Up About Son Jerry

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