Sabrina Carpenter is making her Grand Ole Opry debut… wait, what?
On September 19, the Grand Ole Opry announced something that left a lot of country music fans scratching their heads.
Sabrina Carpenter is set to make her Opry debut on October 7th, oh boy…
The Opry is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary and has been opening its stage to a variety of acts—but Sabrina Carpenter definitely wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card.
She’s a pop vocalist, fully rooted in the mainstream pop scene. That said, some fans argue her latest album “Man’s Best Friend” has a few country touches—there are hints of fiddle, banjo, and even a slight country twang in some tracks.
Still, the only song I’d personally consider remotely “country” is “Please Please Please,” mainly because it features none other than the blonde country icon Dolly Parton.
In fact, Dolly herself told Rolling Stone in a cover story on Sabrina:
“Our voices are very similar, I can’t tell sometimes which part’s her and which part’s me. And we look like relatives. She looks like she could be my little sister. We’re little women doing big things.”
If Sabrina takes the stage with Dolly, that would feel a lot more fitting. But if she comes out solo and performs “Tears” or “Taste,” it might leave a bad taste in the mouths of traditional country fans.
The Grand Ole Opry is the most iconic stage in country music—a bucket list dream for country artists and fans alike. So seeing a pop artist enter such a sacred space can feel… well, invasive.
What do you think? Does this open the door to genre evolution, or is it a step too far?