Switchfoot's long-awaited Grand Ole Opry debut lived up to the hype. The GRAMMY-winning rock band stepped into the famed Nashville circle Thursday night, delivering a three-song set that earned a standing ovation and included a surprise guest turn from country superstar Lainey Wilson.
Wilson joined the band onstage for "Beautiful Life," a track off Switchfoot's new album, "Forever Now," which was recorded largely in Nashville. The set also included the band's signature hits "Dare You to Move" and "Only Hope," the latter famously covered by Mandy Moore in "A Walk to Remember."
Frontman Jon Foreman reflected on the milestone from the stage after playing "Dare You to Move." "We have many ties to Nashville, we have made many records out here," he said. "To be the kid who is couch surfing around Nashville and writing songs trying to figure out why they're on the planet, and to be playing one of those songs years and years later, is a dream come true."
The Opry invitation came as a surprise from longtime friends the Jonas Brothers, who broke the news to Switchfoot live on their "Hey Jonas!" podcast last month. The two bands share a decades-long connection; the Jonas Brothers have often credited Switchfoot's 2003 album "The Beautiful Letdown" as a formative influence on their own sound.
Following the main show, Switchfoot headed to the Opry House's Studio A for an intimate set and Q&A with 100 fans. For a band that has spent nearly three decades rooted in Christian music before crossing into the mainstream, the night was a full-circle moment: a group that built its foundation on songs of faith and purpose, now sharing that same purpose from one of country music's most storied stages.
Switchfoot's single "Absolution" continues climbing the Alternative radio charts, and the band kicks off its 38-city "Forever Now Tour" with Anberlin this fall.
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