Niall Horan made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Tuesday (July 7) as part of the Opry’s Summer of the Century celebration, marking 100 years of the iconic Nashville stage.
Introduced by Opry host Kelly Sutton, the One Direction singer stepped into the iconic Grand Ole Opry circle to perform “Tastes So Good” and admitted he was both nervous and honored to have the chance to perform on such a sacred stage.
“Wow, this is pretty insane. Hello, Grand Ole Opry. I can’t believe I’m here. I’m shaking. This is pretty amazing. I’ve been very lucky enough to have done some amazing things in the last 15 years of my career, but little did I know that one day I would end up here in the circle at the Grand Ole Opry. I’d like to thank the Opry for having me. This is incredible.”
He then reflected on his connection to Nashville and his journey through Music City.
“I was lucky enough maybe eight years ago or so to play at The Ryman [Auditorium] and that was insane that night looking out there at one of the most famous theaters in the world and then here I am stood on the famous circle of the floor at the Ryman here at the Opry,” Horan continued.
“I’ve been coming to Nashville for many years writing songs. I made my first album here, I made most of this album here, [and] I spent a lot of time working in Nashville, spending time around the artists. You guys are the most welcoming people in the world. I’ve never felt like an outsider. I’ve always felt so welcomed by writers, artists, music industry folks within the town and of course music fans, the most music loving people in the world live in this city. And thank you so much for having me and have me be a part of your city and this incredible venue tonight.”
Horan explained, “When I was growing up in our little country of Ireland, there’s such a traditional Irish music and country music work in tandem and have done for a very long time. And growing up as a young Irish child, this was the first music that I was ever put in front of and it allowed me to delve into from my traditional Irish country roots into country music in America and spending time here over the last 15 years and getting to know more and more about country music in this nation has been amazing to get to know what the cultural relevance it has in this country and around the world is so powerful, so strong.”
The 32-year-old Mullingar, Ireland native then delivered a countrified rendition of “This Town,” which included some pedal steel from the Grand Ole Opry house band and Horan called his “favorite version I’ve ever played in that song.”
“This is an absolute honor, privilege. I can’t believe it’s going to be over in a few minutes. I’m sad already,” Horan added.
Niall Horan then surprised fans when he brought out his longtime friend Thomas Rhett for his final song of the evening. “I remember meeting Thomas Rhett for the first time and was just straight away was like, ‘That’s my guy.’ One of the most down to earth, lovely guys you’ve ever met in your whole life and one of the best songwriters I’ve ever had the pleasure of being in the room with. I’ve never seen a man write a song so fast in my life. It’s absolutely incredible,” Horan said before welcoming the Georgia native to the stage to perform with him.
“Thomas Rhett and his dad are obviously have stood in this circle on many occasions. His dad was just brought in to be a member of the Opry a couple of weeks ago, I believe, and is one of the greatest songwriters that Nashville has. I got to meet Thomas Rhett and we became good friends.”
The pair of hitmakers then went on to perform their new collaboration, “Old Tricks,” a duet the pair released in October of 2025 that appears on Rhett’s seventh studio album, About A Woman (Deluxe).
Horan also told Rhett how he texted Reba McEntire ahead of his Opry debut to ask for advice. “Thomas has done this 15 or 20 times he thinks. And I was asking him for advice and I text Ms. Reba this afternoon and I said, ‘Reba, what do I do? I’m scared.’ And she just said, ‘Have fun Niall. Have fun.’ And that’s all I needed. And thank you Reba, but I’m sh*t scared.”
He also reunited with Dek of Hearts backstage from Team Niall on The Voice, who also performed on the evening’s Opry lineup.
Niall Horan’s Grand Ole Opry debut comes just over a month after the release of his fourth studio album, Dinner Party, which arrived on June 5, 2026 via Capitol Records. The 12-track project features singles “Dinner Party,” “Little More Time,” “End Of An Era” and more.
