Yellowstone actor and country singer Luke Grimes made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Friday.
“I can’t believe it’s happening, first of all,” Grimes told Good Morning America backstage before he hit the iconic stage. “I’ve always loved music. I’ve played music since I was really young. I never thought I would do it to a level where I got to play the Opry, and it means the world.”
Grimes said he was equal parts honored and “so nervous” for the moment “because so many of my heroes have done it.”
“Just to feel like I’m part of that community at all is amazing,” he continued.
Grimes released his self-titled debut album in March, a milestone he said “feels like a dream come true.”
He explained of the music, “This is kind of who I really am. This is my real story.”
That story is told through songs like “No Horse to Ride” and “Hold On,” which he performed during his Opry debut.
Grimes said one of his biggest musical inspirations came from growing up playing music in church, saying gospel music had a “huge influence” on him, as well as the music from his childhood.
“My dad loved all the ’70s outlaw country stuff. That was huge in our house. Elvis was huge in our house. So anything sort of Americana, that kind of thing,” he explained. “And then, growing up … ’90s country radio — like Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, you know, all those guys.”
Grimes and his wife, Bianca Rodrigues Grimes, announced the arrival of their firstborn child, a son named Rigel, in October.
“I’m still processing how it’s changing me, you know, day by day,” he said, calling fatherhood “the biggest event that’s ever happened in my life.”
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