Last night while performing with her band on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Rhonda Vincent got the surprise of her life when segment host Jeannie Seeley extended an invitation for Vincent to become a member of the Opry.
When we reached Rhonda this afternoon, our first question was whether she had really known nothing about this invitation being on tap.
“Not a single clue. I never thought it would happen. Ever.
My first reaction was to doubt what I had just heard. Jeanie and I are friends; we have a new single, Like I Could, that she wrote. So I had to kind of rewind in my head what she had said.
Nobody knew, not even my husband. The Opry called him just before my set to make sure he was watching. Of course, he already was.
My mother was at a jam in Iowa, and she got a call from the Opry, but she thought it was a scam call so she just kept jamming. Tensel had kept calling her, and she finally picked up.”
Rhonda said that joining the Opry had been a lifelong dream for her, and that she had essentially given up, expecting that it would never happen.
But in fact, she will be back on March 24 for the official induction as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
“When I got off stage, a lady from the Opry was waiting for me and said that she had a couple of questions. First off was, what kind of cake do I like. I was so frazzled that I couldn’t think, so I looked over to a little girl that was standing there backstage and asked her what was her favorite kind of cake. She said chocolate, so chocolate it is.”
When we asked if her family could be on hand for the induction, she laughed.
“No… they can’t! Mom will be on the Dailey & Vincent cruise, and so will Darrin. He sent me the sweetest letter, the sweetest one I have ever gotten from him, saying how sorry he was that he couldn’t be there. And Herb has a fishing trip scheduled for that week! I’ll let you guess which one he will pick. Jeanne Pruett told me he’ll be there.. ‘I will make sure he’s there.'”
Following the induction, her next Opry appearance will be on March 26 as part of Country Classics at The Ryman.
We didn’t want to keep Rhonda on the phone for long, as she was between sets in Millersburg, OH, but she wouldn’t stop sharing comments about the night before..
“I am so touched by all the comments and congratulations I have received today.
I’m humbled… I’m honored… I thank the good Lord.”
Congratulations to Rhonda Vincent on this career achievement! We know she’ll do bluegrass proud.
