At the Grand Ole Opry’s 100th-anniversary celebration on March 19, 2025, Carrie Underwood honored Randy Travis with two of his songs—and invited him to sing the final “Amen” of “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Travis joined her for that closing word, a brief but deeply personal moment between longtime friends.
What Carrie Underwood sang for Randy Travis
Underwood performed Travis’s “Three Wooden Crosses” and “Forever and Ever, Amen” during Opry 100: A Live Celebration, broadcast live from the Opry House. The two songs had particular stature in Travis’s career: a 2024 biography submitted for a U.S. House hearing lists them among his performances that earned CMA Song of the Year honors, in 2002 and 1987, respectively. The Opry’s event recap identifies the songs in Underwood’s tribute; the House biography supplies the career context.
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How Travis joined the closing moment
At the end of “Forever and Ever, Amen,” Underwood stepped down and held out the microphone to Travis. He sang the song’s final “Amen.” ABC News reported the moment the following day and described the audience’s visible emotion; those images capture the response in the room, not a measured reaction among all viewers. ABC News’s report and the Opry recap describe the exchange.
Why the tribute carried personal meaning
Underwood has said she listened to Travis as a child. ABC News attributed these remarks to her at the celebration: “From the first time I heard him sing his traditional country voice and those songs, I was hooked. And I knew my sister was not getting that tape back.” She also recalled their friendship and the moment he invited her to join the Opry: “I could never have imagined that I’d be recording songs with him, or that Randy would become my dear friend, or that he would surprise me onstage and invite me to join the Grand Ole Opry back in 2008.”
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The invitation had been a milestone in a relationship that began before Underwood became an Opry member. She made her Opry performance debut on June 10, 2005. On March 15, 2008, after she performed “I Told You So,” Travis surprised her onstage with the invitation; Garth Brooks inducted her on May 10. The Opry’s retrospective of Underwood’s Opry appearances also notes that she covered “I Told You So” on her 2007 album Carnival Ride.
Travis’s health and what the moment does—and does not—show
Travis suffered a major stroke in 2013. ABC News reported that it left him with aphasia and affected his ability to speak and perform live. A biography submitted for a 2024 House hearing said he continued to make progress in speaking, walking, and singing. His singing one word at the Opry was a meaningful contribution to this performance, but it does not establish that he had recovered his former speech or ability to perform live.
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Where to watch Opry 100
The Opry says Opry 100: A Live Celebration remains available on demand on Peacock. The Opry also describes an extended on-demand version with an all-cast finale omitted from the original broadcast. That addition is separate from Underwood’s tribute and Travis’s closing “Amen.” Availability can change.
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