Charley Pride

With 36 No. 1 hits and more than 25 million albums sold, Charley Pride has become a true country music legend.

From 1966 to 1984, the overwhelming majority of his more than 50 singles reached the Top 10, with more than half hitting No. 1, including “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” (a pop-country crossover million-seller), “Mountain of Love,” and “Is Anybody Going to San Antone?” In 1971, he was named CMA Entertainer of the Year.

In 1993, 26 years after he first played the show as a guest, Charley joined the Grand Ole Opry. Remembering an initial dream of baseball stardom, Charley said, “It’s as if I had made it in baseball and they came up to me and took me to Cooperstown and said, ‘This is where your plaque is going to be—beside Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron ...’” In 2000 Charley joined the ranks of another elite country music group when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Jim Ed Brown

Jim Ed Brown has the career distinction of topping the charts as a member of a trio, a duo, and as a solo artist.

With sisters Maxine and Bonnie, he signed to RCA in 1956 and quickly notched two Top 5 hits, “I Take the Chance” and “I Heard the Bluebird Sing.” After a two-year stint in the service, Jim Ed joined his sisters again, and in 1959 they hit with the “The Three Bells,” topping the country chart for 10 weeks and the pop charts for four weeks. Follow-up singles “The Old Lamplighter” and “Scarlet Ribbons” were pop-country hits as well.

By the mid-’60s, Bonnie and Maxine decided to retire. Jim Ed went solo and scored hits throughout the next two decades with songs such as “Pop a Top” and “Morning.” Beginning in 1975, Jim Ed co-hosted the syndicated weekly television series “Nashville on the Road” for six seasons. He also teamed with Helen Cornelius—a special guest on this year’s cruise--  to become one of country music’s most successful duos. The pair topped the charts with “I Don’t Want To Have to Marry You” in 1976, and were named CMA Vocal Duo of the Year in 1977.

Jeannie Seely

Jeannie Seely’s mother has said that Jeannie was just four when she learned to stretch up, tune the knob on her family’s big console radio to 650 WSM and keep it there. Jeannie Seely is still on the dial at 650 WSM—performing regularly on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.

A recording contract with Monument Records gave Jeannie her first hit in 1966 with the bluesy Hank Cochran tune “Don’t Touch Me,” which went to the top of the charts and earned her a Grammy Award. One year later, the singer who became famous as “Miss Country Soul” fulfilled her childhood dream by becoming a member of the Opry cast.

Other hits followed, including —“I’ll Love You More (Than You Need),” “Can I Sleep in Your Arms,” and “Lucky Ladies.” Jeannie briefly worked as duet partner of Porter Wagoner and had a successful touring and recording partnership with fellow Opry member Jack Greene, including the Top 10 single “Wish I Didn’t Have to Miss You.” Jeannie is also a successful songwriter, with songs cut by Dottie West, Faron Young, Connie Smith, Willie Nelson, and Ray Price.

Chris Young

An air of high expectation and inevitability has always surrounded Chris Young. Anyone who heard him sing, and anyone who experienced his poised and engaging stage show, inevitably decreed that this tall fellow with the friendly smile had what it takes. When they found out he also wrote the best of his songs, people would just smile, shake their heads and say, "That boy is going to be a star."

Like his heroes Keith Whitley and Randy Travis, he seems to own an old soul and a lived-in voice custom-designed to sing country music. Like those idols, he ushers country's classic sound into the modern era, energizing the genre's core themes and values by making them as current as tomorrow's news.

"I've always felt this was my destiny," says the singer. "But I also realized early on that hard work is as important as talent. I love to work just as much as I love music. So I'm having the time of my life right now. …Still, I'm waiting for that day when I hear my song being played on the radio next to George Strait and Brooks & Dunn. That's when I'll celebrate. At that point, I'll know my work is just beginning, but I'll also know that dreams do come true."

Young's dream came true in 2009 when he topped the country charts with "Getting You Home (The Black Dress Song)," the debut single from his sophomore album The Man I Want To Be.

Helen Cornelius

Fans immediately embraced Helen Cornelius’ 1976 duet release with Jim Ed Brown,  "I Don't Want to Have to Marry You." Having found a winning formula, Jim Ed and Helen next released “Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye.” The duet followed suit and entered the Top 5.  The pair kept the hits coming with “I'll Never Be Free” and “If the World Ran Out of Love Tonight.” Amid their success as a duo, Cornelius also made a name for herself as a solo artist with releases such as "What Cha Doin' After Midnight Baby."

With a successful recording career and touring on her resume, Helen took to a different stage, appearing in a revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” in 1984.  She has since performed countless shows on the road as well as in vacation destinations such as Gatlinburg, TN; Branson, MO; and, of course, at the Grand Ole Opry.