Steve Earle is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry! Earle was inducted into the Opry by his good friend, Emmylou Harris. Earle’s induction comes after Vince Gill surprised him in April with an invitation to join the Opry.

“I’ve known Steve for so long, and I know that he went through the fire,” Harris says. “But he came out with his sense of humor, his intellect, and his humanity, just not intact, but even stronger. Steve, I’m so proud to know you. I can’t think of a better way to begin the next 100 years but with these words: Steve Earle, congratulations on becoming the next member of the Grand Ole Opry.”

“This is a really big deal for me,” Earle said from stage. “I did campaign for it, I have to admit. And you’ll see me out here on a pretty regular basis, as often as I can possibly get here.”

During Earle’s Grand Ole Opry performance, he sang “Guitar Town” and “Hillbilly Highway.” Before performing his signature hit, “Copperhead Road,” Earle reflected on the significance of becoming an Opry member.

“There has never been any time since I had a guitar that I didn’t want to be on the Grand Ole Opry,” he said. “Being a member is about as good as it’s ever going to get for me.”

 

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What Vince Gill Said When Inviting Steve Earle To Become An Opry Member

When Gill invited Earle to become a Grand Ole Opry member, he did so by presenting Earle with a personalized guitar strap, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Opry.

“You have to be an Opry member to have one of these,” Gill said at the time. “We want to invite you to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.”

A surprised Earle replied by saying, “This is kind of the biggest thing that has ever happened to me in my life.”

In addition to being an official member of the Grand Ole Opry, Earle is also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Steve Earle Overcomes Addiction

Earle has overcome a lot on his path to becoming an Opry member. The Virginia native spent many years addicted to drugs and alcohol, before becoming sober in 1994, after serving 60 days in prison.

Staying sober is a decision Earle makes every day.

“I just don’t pick up,” Earle tells Joshua Tree Voice. “I go to meetings, I call my sponsor, and I sponsor people. It was not hard for me to stay clean once I got clean, and trust me – when I drank, I drank like an alcoholic. But I really didn’t drink much during the tail end of my story because I considered it (alcohol) to be an inefficient drug. [Sobriety] was not hard the first ten or 12 years, like it has been the last decade, when my first sober and longest marriage ended just as my son was diagnosed with autism.”

Tragically, Earle’s son, Justin Townes Earle, passed away in 2020 from an overdose. Earle says he has relied heavily on sobriety programs for the last 13 or 14 years, but finds the most help in helping those he sponsors find freedom from addiction.

Photo Credit: Grand Ole Opry / Chris Hollo