William Shatner to Make Grand Ole Opry Debut
William Shatner is set to make his debut on the hallowed stage of the Grand Ole Opry.
The 87-year-old actor, who's best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in the iconic science fiction television series Star Trek and its subsequent series of movies, will perform at the Opry on Feb. 15 alongside Alabama co-founder Jeff Cook. Shatner and Cook previously collaborated on a 2018 country album titled Why Not Me.
The album continues Shatner's longstanding approach to making music. Like past albums including 1968's The Transformed Man, the songs on Why Not Me focus on Shatner's quirky spoken-word delivery, mixed with stronger background vocalists. The album features tongue-in-cheek songs with titles including "Too Old to Be Vegan," "Beam Me Up" — a drinking song with a twist — and "I Hate to Waste Good Beer," but it's balanced out by several more serious tracks.
Shatner is no stranger to country music. He appeared on the 2015 CMA Awards in a skit with Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, and he also made cameo appearances in Paisley's videos for "Online" and "Celebrity."
“I love country music,” Shatner says in a press release. “A lot of people I know are country artists, and I envy them. The terrible truth is that I can’t sing, but what I do have is a feeling for poetry. I am trying to fuse the spoken word with music."
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