Grand Ole Opry Spotlight: Connie Smith

Grand Ole Opry Country Music Show - Nashville

Dierks Bentley - The Opry's Youngest Member

The country music legend with a big voice make music with her 1964 hit, "Once A Day," and continued landing Top 40 hits on the charts for the next two decades before retiring from her full-time recording career. At age 5, she proclaimed her desire to sing on the Grand Ole Opry stage, and she would become a member less than two decades after the declaration.

Background and Early Career

• Connie Smith was born August 14, 1941 in Elkhart, Indiana, and grew up in West Virginia. A somewhat shy young woman, Connie did not directly seek the limelight, but instead was persuaded by her husband into entering a talent contest in 1963 where Bill Anderson was present. Connie won the contest, and captured the attention of "Whisperin' Bill," who then invited the young mother to Nashville.
• The rest, as they say, is country music history. Within a 14-year period, Connie landed 20 Top 10 hits on the charts. In 1997, she was wed to fellow Grand Ole Opry member Marty Stuart, who at age 11 had seen Connie perform at the Opry and vowed that he would one day marry the songstress.

Grand Ole Opry Induction

• Connie Smith was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on June 13, 1965.

Connie Smith at the Opry

• Connie Smith is one of the Grand Ole Opry's favorite performers, and she makes frequent appearances on the coveted stage. To find out when she will be at the Opry next, please visit the VME Grand Ole Opry Blog.

Notable Hits

• "Once a Day"
• "Then and Only Then"
• "If I Talk to Him"
• "I Can't Remember"
• "Ain't Had No Lovin'"
• "Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)"
• "The Hurtin's All Over"
• "I'll Come Running"
• "Cincinnati, Ohio"
• "Burning a Hole in My Mind"
• "Baby's Back Again"
• "You And Your Sweet Love"
• "I Never Once Stopped Loving You"
• "Just One Time"
• "If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave it Alone"
• "Just For What I Am"
• "Love is the Look You're Looking For"

More Information

• Hear the untold (and quite romantic) story of the marriage of Connie Smith and Marty Stuart on the Nashville Unpublished Walking Tour!
• See the complete list of current Grand Ole Opry members!