Ellen surprises 'Walmart yodeling kid' with a spot on the Grand Ole Opry stage

[Rusty_Blazenhoff]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/04/12/ellen-surprises-walmart-yode.html

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[vonbobo]

Good way to start my day!

[gracchus]

I love that he learned to yodel from his (apparently less talented) grandfather. There’s obviously a lot of family support there for this natural showman.

[beep54orama]

Let’s try to hook up this kid with Toby Lee. This could be awesome.

[anotherone]

I stepped on my basset’s tail once. Sounded a lot like that.

[Franko]

seeing him cry was a sweet way to start my morning.

[NashRambler]

I’d bet more than a few bucks that Ricky Skaggs might just come back onstage to play with this kid. He’s a wonderful person as well as an incredible musician, who also got started at a very young age in music.

[SenorSchaffer]

I have mixed feelings. The Grand Old Opry was his goal along with going to college. Now he got both without all the years of usual hard work that goes into those things. I hope in the end he appreciates them as much.

Still, what an awesome kiddo.

[noahdjango]

I didn’t watch the ellen clip, but if it wasn’t said, that’s a very faithful version of the original, by the man himself

great pipes on this kid

[sockdoll]

That was fun. Not to detract from this young man’s abilities, but thinking about Hank Williams Sr. reminds me of what a gift he had musically along with a tragic personal life. He died of a medical condition brought on by drugs, alcohol, and possibly a beating at the age of 29, while being driven between gigs.

Hank Williams

Death of Hank Williams

[noahdjango]

sidebar: back when I was a Knoxvillian, the free paper, Metro Pulse, had an excellent “Secret History” column that detailed Hank’s last day, as it was Knoxville he departed from, on his way to wherever his next gig was I forget, when he died in the back seat. He had stayed at and then departed from the Andrew Johnson Hotel, a building now owned by the county for offices and where I met my probation officer for a while. I passed that building every day just before crossing the Gay St. Bridge on my way to my South Knoxville home just across the river.

[sockdoll]

I tend to be overly sentimental at the best of times, but what a sad loss!

[noahdjango]

Amen, brother.

[bheerssen]

Yank mah feels, why doncha.

Also, it looks like he goes on just before Ricky Scaggs, not after. Performances are normally listed in reverse order on play bills. Scaggs is the headliner, so he plays last.