George Strait Mourns The Losses Of Longtime Manager, Bandmate

George Strait's manager of 45 years, Eugene Ervine "Erv" Woolsey, passed peacefully at age 80 this week (3/20) in Clearwater, Florida.

The King of Country Music, Strait, said, "My manager for around 45 years and, most importantly, my friend for even longer, Erv Woolsey, passed away this morning."

The Country Music Hall of Fame Member continued, "He had complications from a surgery and just couldn't overcome it. He was a very tough man and fought hard, but sadly, it was just too much. We will miss him so very much and will never forget all the time we had together. Won't ever be the same without him."

Woolsey was under doctors' care due to complications from surgery. The Texas-born, longtime Nashville resident changed the face of modern country music through his stewardship of Strait's career and the careers of Lee Ann Womack, Dierks Bentley,  Clay Walker, and Country Music Hall of Famer Ronnie Milsap.

Woolsey and his then-wife Connie owned The Prairie Rose, a club in San Marcos, Texas, in the 1970s. He first saw and met George Strait there, recognizing something in the classic Texan's approach that stood out. He booked Strait regularly to perform.

In 1981, in the wake of "Urban Cowboy" and on the verge of a new traditionalist movement, Woolsey convinced label head Jim Foglesong to sign Strait to a recording deal at MCA Records, his label home to this day.

In a more current post on his Instagram, Strait announced another sad death in his music family: his fiddle player Gene Elders. He captioned the post, "Hard to believe we lost two of our music family members on the same day. Our Ace In the Hole treasured band member Gene Elders passed away yesterday afternoon, shortly after we lost Erv. All of our prayers go out to both families. Me and the band won’t ever be the same without our brother Gene. We loved him so much. Go play with Mike again, Geno. We’ll come join you guys later."

Elder's cause of death is unknown at this time.

Strait recently announced the only performance in his home state this year with a concert set for Saturday, June 15, 2024, at Texas A&M's Kyle Field. He will be joined by special guests Parker McCollum and Catie Offerman. Tickets here.

The country music icon will once again team up with Chris Stapleton to perform one-off stadium dates this year with stops at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Chicago's Soldier Field, Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium, and more. Joining the King of Country and Stapleton for those nine dates are special guests, Little Big Town.

Many country music superstars embrace the Grand Ole Opry and openly weep when invited to become members of the Nashville institution. However, a handful of country superstars are not members of the Opry.

To become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, you have to be invited, and that decision comes down to Opry management. According to the Opry website, "Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans, a connection to the music's history, and it requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment. Often, the Opry seeks out those who seek out the Opry, though decisions aren't based on which artists appear most on the show, either."

In picking new members of the Opry, their site says, "The Opry doesn't simply pass out invitations to the biggest stars with the most hits. Opry management looks for a musical and a generational balance. Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans and a connection to the music's history. It requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment."

To become a member, there is a rule that artists need to commit to playing the Grand Ole Opry stage several times a year. However, that rule is often broken by current Opry members (primarily icons and superstars), and it's just okay.

For some country superstars, it may be the commitment they shy away from or not having enough passion for the Opry history to leave the Grand Ole Opry out of their careers. We look at five country music superstars that are not members of the Grand Ole Opry. While all have played it at least once, these five acts rarely play the Grand Ole Opry stage.

Tim made his Grand Ole Opry debut in December 2003. After that, he played it a few times, but never that much, and now he doesn't play the Grand Ole Opry at all. Not sure why.

Faith played the Opry in the late 1990s when her career started to hit. She didn't play the Opry stage much after that.

Vince Bucci/Getty Images

George played the Grand Ole Opry show once, his debut performance on the stage in October of 1982. That was the first and last time, and no one really knows why. There is a theory that he could not make the Opry commitment to play the stage very much because he never lived in Nashville; he has always resided in Texas.

Miranda played the Grand Ole Opry several times in her career, and some of her most recent performances on the Opry stage were in 2014 with then-husband Blake Shelton and in 2015 and 2016. She does not play it often now, and in 2015, she told me when asked about the Grand Ole Opry and someday becoming a member, "It's sort of something I don't talk about or have never asked or say that out loud. It was always a big deal to Blake, so that was something we always talked about, and he became a member, but I'd never really set it out for myself." She added, "It wasn't on my radar before because I focused on that for him, but I would definitely never say no to being a member of the Grand Ole Opry."

Scott Gries/Getty Images

Kenny made his Opry debut in 1996. He has been on the Opry stage a handful of times and once when he paid tribute to George Jones singing his classic, "White Lightning." These days it's very rare to see Chesney on the Grand Ole Opry stage.