Jeannie Seely, who played the Grand Ole Opry more than anyone during her lifetime, will receive her final sendoff with a special tribute from the stage she loved so much.
On Wednesday (Aug. 6), Seely’s team announced that her public memorial service will be a Grand Ole Opry show.
It’s being billed as Jeannie Seely’s 5,398th Opry Show — because the country legend played the Opry stage an incredible 5,397 times over the course of her career.
Jeannie Seely’s Death
- Jeannie Seely died on Aug. 1 of complications from an intestinal infection. She was 85 years old.
- A statement from her team revealed that she’d been battling health issues for nearly a year, which ramped up after her husband Gene Ward died last December.
- She’d shared some of those issues with fans, including two abdominal surgeries and a 10-day stay in the ICU.
All the Details on Jeannie Seely’s Funeral Service
The country legend’s celebration of life will be held at the Grand Ole Opry on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 10AM CT.
The service will broadcast live 650 AM WSM, and it will also livestream here so that fans wishing to pay their respects can watch from home.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Opry Trust Fund, which has distributed over $4.8 million to music industry members in need since it was founded in 1965.
Alternatively, Seeley’s team suggests that fans could honor her memory with a donation to a charitable organization that benefits pets.
Why Is It So Fitting That Seely’s Funeral Will Be at the Grand Ole Opry?
Throughout her career, Seely was one of the Opry’s biggest champions and longest-standing members.
She made her first appearance on the stage in 1966 and was officially inducted as a member the following year.
Seely was among the most frequent performers at the Opry in the decades that followed, and she remained active on its stage almost up until her death. Her final Opry show took place in February.
Read More: Carly Pearce Made a Deathbed Promise to Jeannie Seely
Seely was also an active presence in the careers of younger artists, like Carly Pearce and Jenny Tolman.
After she died, Pearce shared an emotional tribute post acknowledging Seely’s role in welcoming her into the Opry family when the younger star herself became a member. They were so close, Pearce made Seely a deathbed promise.
“I whispered in her ear this week that I promised to keep the sparkles in the circle and her legacy in lights — and I promised to do that,” she relates.
Seely was also a cherished friend to older generations of female country stars, like Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood.
Read More: Here’s What Country’s Leading Ladies Said About Jeannie Seely’s Death
“She was one of my dearest friends,” Parton wrote in a tribute following her death.
“We had many wonderful laughs together, cried over certain things and she will be missed,” she continued.
See the Most Played Country Song from the Year You Were Born
Who had the most played country song during the year you were born? This list is a fascinating time capsule of prevalent trends from every decade in American history. Scroll through to find your birth year and then click to listen. Some of these songs have been lost through the years, many of them for good reason!
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
