Ray Stevens to Be Honored With Star-Studded Opry House Concert Featuring Jamey Johnson & More

A host of artists will join forces at the Grand Ole Opry House on Nov.

9 to honor comedian, musician and Country Music Hall of Famer Ray Stevens during the Don’t Look, Ethel! A Salute to the Musical Genius of Ray Stevens event.

Comedian Cledus T.

Judd will host and perform during the event, which will also feature performances from Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Milsap, Jamey Johnson, Gretchen Wilson, Mark Chesnutt, The Gatlin Brothers, Lee Greenwood, Collin Raye, Darryl Worley, Dailey & Vincent, Mark Wills, Billy Dean, Jeff Bates and Deborah Allen.

Country Music Hall of Famer Randy Travis will also make a special appearance, while Nancy Jones, widow of the late country music icon George Jones, will make remarks, as will WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler and WWE luminary Mickie James.

Nashville band Sixwire will be the evening’s house band.

“I’ve always been so fond of the Nashville music community, and I’m truly honored that they would want to do this tribute,” Stevens said in a statement.

“All my life I’ve wanted to be successful in the music business and have people appreciate what I create.

That’s impossible without the fans.

I’m so grateful for all of them!” In the 1960s, Stevens’ slate of novelty hits such as “Guitarzan” and “Harry the Hairy Ape” earned him pop hits, while he also became an in-demand Nashville studio musician and songwriter, including playing trumpet during recording session for Elvis Presley and playing on Waylon Jennings’ recording of “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line.” Stevens also wrote and produced Dolly Parton’s 1966 song “Busy Signal.” By 1970, he had been called upon as a summer replacement for television host Andy Williams, and in preparing for the gig, he wrote the uplifting track “Everything Is Beautiful,” which won a Grammy in 1971 for best contemporary song.

The 1970s and 1980s saw Stevens continue to earn hits with novelty songs including “Mississippi Squirrel Revival,” “The Streak” (which spent two weeks at the pinnacle of Billboard ‘s Hot Country Songs chart in 1974) and “Shriner’s Convention.” In 1976, he won another Grammy, this time for his song “Misty.” He continued expanding his business ventures, opening the Ray Stevens Theatre in Branson, Mo., in the ’90s, and in 2015, he launched the weekly music variety cable show Ray Stevens Nashville .

That program was later rebranded as Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville and filmed at his CabaRay Showroom, which launched in 2018.

Beyond his membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame, he’s also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame, the Georgia Hall of Fame and has a star on the Music City Walk of Fame.

Presale tickets for the event will be available via AXS, with the pre-sale code RAY26, on Aug.