Oak Rige Boys Invited to Join the Grand Ole Opry

The Oak Ridge Boys will be inducted as Grand Ole Opry members on August 6. Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Richard Sterban and Joe Bonsall were invited to join the Opry this past Friday night (July 8) by Little Jimmy Dickens, who took the Opry stage dressed like William Lee, complete with long beard and sunglasses!

Jimmy surprised the Oaks after their performance of their hit, 'Y'all Come Back Saloon,' walking onstage in the William Lee get-up and deadpanning, "All my life I've wanted to be a little bitty Oak Ridge Boy. On August 6th, I will become the newest member of the Oak Ridge Boys, and at that time, you will become the newest members of the Grand Ole Opry!"

The group members were caught by surprise by the announcement, with Joe recovering first. "Jimmy, that's the funniest thing we've ever seen. This is a brotherhood and sisterhood unlike any other. We have been friends of the Opry for a long time. We will get on our bus later and let this process -- and I guess we have until August 6 -- to let it sink in."

Duane tells The Boot that while they knew the invitation might be forthcoming, they had no idea it was going to happen Friday night. "About a year ago, I was backstage talking with [Grand Ole Opry manager] Steve Buchanan and [Vice President and General Manager] Peter Fisher and one of them asked if there was anything else in our career that we would want to happen.

"I have always been known for just speaking honestly and without reservations, sometime at my own peril, so I said, 'Yes, I would love to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry and I would love to one day be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. I feel like those two things would be huge honors for the Oak Ridge Boys.'

"We were all totally surprised when Jimmy invited us the other night, but I would not be totally truthful if I said I did not know it was in the works."

Duane says there had been discussion about 20 years ago regarding the quartet becoming Opry members. "At that time, we felt we could not meet the required obligation for the amount of dates that the Opry would want us to perform there, so the discussion did not progress," he explains.

After they accepted the invitation Friday night, the Oaks concluded their set with their smash hit 'Elvira,' then came back onstage to join Larry Gatlin in singing his classic 'All The Gold in California.'

Duane says the night was made even more special because Jimmy was the Opry member who invited them. "Little Jimmy Dickens is one of my longtime dear friends. I call him the 'gentleman' of country music. For all the years I have been in the business, Little Jimmy has always been known as a man of integrity. It is from legends like him that I have studied to achieve a high standard of doing business."

The Oaks' lead singer says they have long been known for playing pranks and jokes on other acts, so he thought at first that was what was happening when Jimmy walked out.

"When I turned around and saw him dressed as William Lee, that had to be one of the funnest sights I've ever seen, with that beard down past his waist, sunglasses, hat, designer suit -- what a sight! Then when I understand that he was asking us to become Opry members, I was speechless for the next hour or two. What a huge honor to be asked by my hero to join the Grand Ole Opry!"

Duane says he has a photo of the original Oak Ridge Boys on the stage of the Ryman, taken in November 1948, when the group sang gospel music. "My father-in-law and his brother and sister are on that stage because they sang on that same show. My wife, Nora Lee, who is now one of the backup singers on the Opry, was an infant at the time, and was in the audience in her mother's arms. So our history with the Opry goes all the way back to the '40s."

Duane recalls the Oaks performing on the Opry in the late 1960s, after he had joined the group. "We were on Bill Anderson's portion of the Opry at the Ryman," Duane remembers. "We sang a song written by Bill, 'There's Gonna Be a Great, Great Day.' To this day we are still friends with Bill, and we are still recording his great songs.

"We have always been received by the Opry with great response. These are our type of people. We have always loved working the Opry. It is a huge honor to walk on that stage, which is the stage of legends. The Grand Ole Opry is truly an American institution, the Mother Church of Country Music."

The Oak Ridge Boys will be inducted as Grand Ole Opry members on Saturday, August 6.