Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry staged its 15th annual Opry Goes Pink event on Tuesday night (10) to mark October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The evening, presented by Humana and sponsored by Vanderbilt Health, also featured performances by such country notables as Priscilla Block, Rhonda Vincent, Riders in the Sky, Victoria Shaw, Kelly Lang, the Isaacs, and Gary Mule Deer, many of whom are also Opry members.
Another member of the renowned institution, Carly Pearce, flipped a giant light switch to turn the Opry’s signature barn-style backdrop pink. A contribution of $5 from the sale of each ticket went to the ongoing fight against breast cancer. Other artists who have flipped the switch have included the Judds, Kellie Pickler, LeAnn Rimes, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, and Lauren Alaina. Block’s performance was her seventh on the Opry stage.
Opry Vice President Dan Rogers said: “Year after year, the artists on stage, the staff at the Opry, and most importantly the 4,400 people sitting in the pews in addition to all those tuned in really feel empowered, they feel loved by their fellow man and woman and feel like they’re in a battle not alone.”
Block’s own U.S. tour continues tonight (12) at the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta. She is due to reunite with Justin Moore on the You, Me and Whiskey Tour, named after their duet hit written by Jessi Alexander, Brock Berryhill and Cole Taylor, from October 26 in Dothan, AL. The pair played shows last fall and more in February and April. The song, released a year ago, reached No.3 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and No.8 on Hot Country Songs.
Reviewing Block’s opening set on Old Dominion’s tour when it played in Grand Rapids, MI last month, Substream’s James Shotwell wrote: “With a packed setlist featuring viral hits after radio mainstays, it did not take long for everyone to realize what they were witnessing. Block is not merely an up-and-comer hoping for a shot at fame but a ten-year veteran of Nashville with infectious songs to spare.”
Pearce, for her part, is on her Country Made Me Do It Tour, which arrives in Madison, WI tonight and continues until a closing date in Detroit on November 18. The itinerary is named for her current track, which she co-wrote with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally.
Buy or stream Priscilla Block’s Welcome to the Block Party Deluxe.
