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Holly Dunn Recalls Sadness of Losing Opry Membership

Holly DunnHolly Dunn, one of country music's breakout stars of the mid-1980s, walked away from her singing career after 25 years, a string of hit records, CMA, ACM awards and Grammy nominations. For the past decade, she's been following a new passion -- art.

But Holly's difficult decision came at a price. A member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1989, after being gone from Nashville for two years, the singer best known for the hit, 'Daddy's Hands,' received a call saying she was being removed from the Opry cast list.

"They like to keep the Opry roll at about 70 people who are actively performing," Holly tells the9513 of the Opry's call explaining their decision. "I knew they'd been adding people since I left. But it hurt. Because I loved the Opry. And I still love the Opry. And I had really participated as a younger member. I hosted the TV show and backstage show for two years. I was Bill Anderson's substitute host when he couldn't be there. And I did commercials for them and radio for them. I loved the Opry and what it stood and stands for."

Holly says that while she understands the need for keeping the cast fresh, she wishes the rules could be eased a bit out of respect for the older artists. "I have some amazing memories. I wish there was a way, though -- just to make a suggestion to them -- to keep a list of folks that were members in the past. This whole total expunging you from the list is sort of a little harsh, I think. There are people on that list that I know for a fact might make it once a year if they're lucky. It's a little subjective. That's my only gripe."

Holly insists that she has no second thoughts about retiring from music. She currently lives in the southwest, near her mother who is also an artist.

Holly Dunn on AOL Music

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Chance

I WISH THEY WOULD MAKE SARA EVANS A MEMBER OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY IT'S PAST TIME, SHE SHOULD'VE BEEN INVITED WAY BEFORE JOSH TURNER-CRAIG MORGAN-MONTGOMERY GENTRY-BLAKE SHELTON, NOT THAT THEY ALL DON'T DESERVE IT AND I'M A FAN OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE I JUST THINK IT'S A SHAME THAT SHE HASN'T BEEN INVITED YET.

February 19 2011 at 7:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Webb

How sad it is when the Opry fires members who play it more often and are willing to continue with it when they have members who are never there - such as Dolly parton, Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Garth Brooks (didn't these last two announce retirement years ago - boot them off of there!), and so many others, and yet non-members who have not proven themselves appear on the Opry regularly. The Grand Ole Opry is going to Hell in a handbasket because their shows are shorter and more expensive, they are living off their laurels of the past when the present has nothing to compare with what they did then, and they are very much stearing away from the true intent of what the Grand Ole Opry was intended to be to begin with. Time was when the Grand Ole Opry was a family and now it is a special interest show that features more rock acts lately than they should, and they are trying to reinvent the heritage that made them so great into something it was never intended to be. Twenty years from now, will anyone remember what the Opry was and what made it great, or will the current management/ownership have fired all the traditional acts before that time so that no one can know? Time will tell. Or better yet, will the Grand Ole Opry House become an extension of the Opryland Hotel and cease to be the home of a former great show? It seems the only thing Gaylord is good at is selling off its best acquisitions, destroying the community that Nashville was built on, and making sure that the Opry continues to be a shorter and shorter show that costs more and more to go to (with less legendary artists than it has ever had in its history).

God bless Holly Dunn - she deserves to be treated better than what the Opry has done. After all, she was a great member of the Opry and very true topt he show - which is more than i can say to most of the so-called members who hardly ever darken its doors except for a publicity stunt.

February 18 2010 at 12:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply