Grammy-winning rock icon Ringo Starr debuted at the Grand Ole Opry surrounded by Country Music Hall of Famers and fellow Grammy-winning performers.

Remarkably, Ringo Starr played a new stage Friday night. Six-plus decades into his career, Starr made his debut this weekend on the so-called “show that made country music famous” – the Grand Ole Opry.

Emmylou Harris surprised Ringo Starr onstage during his concert at the Ryman and asked if he would come play at the Opry.

Even at the start of the Long Island quintet’s recording career, 36 years ago, their debut album, When Dream and Day Unite, attracted praise and opprobrium, in more or less equal measure, for its metal-adjacent technical flamboyance.