Jon Pardi was left close to tears on Friday April 28 as he was inducted into Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, live on stage during his Stagecoach Music Festival appearance.
Guy Fieri walked out on stage midway through his set, and directed Jon, 37, and the attention of his thousands of cheering fans to a video of Opry member and Country Music Hall of Famer Alan Jackson, who officially invited Jon to become the newest member of the Opry - and the first ever inductee from California. Watch the moment below!
"I moved to Nashville chasing a dream at 22-years-old and now I'm here. I love you guys and I love country music. Thank you, everybody. This is an amazing night. I'll never forget it,” said an emotional Jon.
He later quipped: "I always wondered how this might happen if it was going to. I never imagined anything this great. That was incredible."
"That mic stand represents the future of country music as well as its incredible history,” added Dan Rogers, Opry executive producer, who placed an Opry mic stand in front of Jon for the rest of his performance. "This night will go down in history, too, both because Jon is the first artist invited to join the Opry on this stage and because he’s the first native Californian to get that call. What a great night!"
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Jon has been a singer-songwriter for years, and last week received his third consecutive ACM Album of the Year nomination for his recent album Mr Saturday Night.
The singer married his partner Summer in November 2020, three years after they were set up on a blind date and Jon invited her to fly to Denver to watch him perform with Rhett Atkins.
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It was love at first sight, and he proposed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, where they had one of their first dates.
In February 2023 they welcomed their daughter Presley.
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