Ladies Love Country ProfileLadies Love Country, the podcast project of two best friends from Sydney – Grace McIlroy and Holly Meagher – just hit a life-changing milestone: guest-announcing at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.
The moment took place on Friday (13 November), with the pair introducing Karley Scott Collins – a Florida-born, Nashville-based country music artist – to the stage.
On social media, Ladies Love Country reflected on the impact of guest announcing at the Opry, sharing a series of exciting photos and videos with their supporters. When it was announced that they’d be guest announcers, the duo said:
WE’RE ANNOUNCING AT THE @opry !!!! Could not have dreamt this up if we tried 😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹 thank you to everyone that has supported us to date and most of all thank YEW to our LADIES 🫶🫶🫶🫶 we wouldn’t be here without you ❤️❤️❤️
Ladies Love Country’s guest announcers’ moment came a year after they attended the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.
And there’s an Australian connection with Karley Scott Collins, who made her performance debut on the Opry stage in 2024 after Keith Urban introduced her. Plus, Collins appeared on the Ladies Love Country podcast when she was in Australia for Ridin’ Hearts festival last year.
“It’s a pretty special full circle moment for us,” the pair told Countrytown. “This time last year, we were invited to be part of Justin Thomson from iHeartRadio’s Guest Announcer debut.
“He was the first ever Australian to be invited to guest announce. It was our first ever time attending the Opry, and now just 12 months later we've been invited to step onto that very same stage ourselves as only the 2nd Australians to ever Guest Announce.”
Ladies Love Country has existed for just 18 months. In that time, the pair have seen some of their favourite artists, such as Drake Milligan, Vince Gill, Ne-Yo, The War and Treaty and many others, on the Opry stage.
They added, “We’re two ladies from Sydney who started Ladies Love Country because we wanted to help grow country music in Australia. To now be representing Australia at one of the most iconic institutions in country music is something we don’t take lightly.
“We’re so proud to be Australian, so proud of what we’ve built and so excited for what’s ahead.”
Ladies Love Country releases new episodes every Friday, with updates available via their YouTube and Instagram pages.
