Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! This year is the celebration of 100 years of the Grand Ole Opry. All year long the Opry is celebrating leading up to their actual birthday this fall.

Over the years, many artists have been banned from the Opry for various reasons, such as Johnny Cash getting drunk and breaking all the stage lights with the microphone stand. Jerry Lee Lewis was also banned after he played a 40-minute set consisting mostly of rock songs and he also used very vulgar language during the set. However, in 1965 the Opry took membership away from 11 artists.

In the 60s, Opry members were required to play 26 shows each year, however, many artists at that time weren’t playing enough shows to remain members, so their memberships were taken away. Those artists were Kitty Wells, Don Gibson, George Morgan, Billy Grammar, Johnny Wright, The Jordanaires, Faron Young, Ferlin Husky, Justin Tubb, Stonewall Jackson, and Chet Atkins.

It’s crazy to think that the Opry took away memberships from all of these artists considering they were some of the biggest stars at the time, but the Opry needs artists they can rely on. When the Opry invites a huge star to become a member, they take the chance of them not following through with the number of shows they are required to play because they are busy with so many other things.

For example, Jeannie Seely in 1967 and she has played there over 5,000 times. It all depends on how important it is to each artist.

To celebrate the Opry’s 100th birthday, I am going to do a 100-day series where each day I will pick a country music legend or superstar and post a fun fact about them and a link to one of their songs. It will be posted on Facebook and Reddit, so stay tuned. I’ll be back soon!