Tuesday night was an incredible occasion, not to mention an incredible milestone, for Lorrie Morgan. Twenty-five years ago to the day, Morgan became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. She celebrated her quarter-century anniversary by performing before a sold-out audience at the Grand Ole Opry house in Nashville.

"Of course I was very excited, but I was also thinking, 'Man, it felt like yesterday that I was so excited about becoming a member and taking off in the country music world'," Morgan tells The Boot. "It was and still is the greatest highlight of my career, being a member of the Opry."

Morgan's father, George Morgan, was inducted into the Opry in 1948. It was his biggest hope that his daughter would join him as a member of that family.

"I know it sounds so cliche to say he's in heaven looking down, but I know he is elated. The Opry meant as much to him as it does to me," Morgan says of her dad. "That's where I fell in love with country music, there at the Opry with Dad by my side. It was so emotional last night, because I remember my dad being there with me when I first performed on the Opry."

Morgan, who was the youngest member of the Opry when she was inducted in 1984, made her debut on the show in 1973, when it was at the Ryman Auditorium. She was just 14 years old then, and only 25 when she was asked to be a member of the Opry family. Unfortunately her father did not get to see her induction into the institution he loved; he died in 1975. Morgan's mother, children and some of her siblings were at the Opry last night to see her perform three songs, 'I Didn't Know My Own Strength,' 'I Guess You Had To Be There' and a new song from her upcoming album, 'Mirror, Mirror.'

"Every time I go to the Opry is a special moment," Morgan said when asked if she had any favorite memories. "Probably when it became the most special is when I realize that so many of the people I grew up idolizing are now my friends -- people like Jeannie Seely, and the Four Guys. When I walk past Little Jimmy Dickens, he'll say, 'Hey Morgan!' Those are the moments you can't buy, when you're idols know your name and they mess with you and play jokes on you. It's such a family feeling."

Other artists who were on the Tuesday night Opry helping Morgan celebrate her anniversary were Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Trace Adkins, Ricky Skaggs and Little Jimmy Dickens.

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