Craig Wayne Boyd to Make Grand Ole Opry Debut in January

Craig Wayne Boyd, Season 7 winner of 'The Voice,' is about to fulfill a lifelong dream. The singer will make his debut at the Grand Ole Opry on Jan. 3.

Boyd, who was on Blake Shelton's team, has been busy since being named the latest winner of the singing competition on Dec. 16, which means his success hasn't entirely set in yet.

"I haven't really had time to think," he tells Nashville's Tennessean. "I've just been doing. I've always had a really strong work ethic, and I'm just taking on each challenge as they come at me. I am hanging on for dear life because it is a whirlwind at the moment. But it's fun."

The Texas native's debut single, 'My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face,' is already climbing the charts. His string of successes is a sharp contrast to last year at this time, when he was ready to give up.

“I remember, a little more than a year ago, sitting in a pickup outside of a club after I had played to basically no one and talking to my drummer and saying, ‘Listen, I may have to quit because it’s not paying my bills, and I’m losing my house. I lost my pickup. I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Boyd recalls. “And him telling me, ‘Dude, you can’t do that.’”

Boyd's tenacity clearly paid off. His Opry performance will take place at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, as part of the Opry at the Ryman series. The evening's all-star cast includes Lauren Alaina, Larry Gatlin, the Henningsens and Marty Stuart. Tickets are available here.