Nashville, Tenn. (September 9, 2025) — Next week, for only the third time in the band’s near 40-year career, GRAMMY® Award-winning southern rock, blues and country group The Kentucky Headhunters will return to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry for “Opry 100 Honors Bill Monroe.”
The Headhunters are set to perform live next Tuesday, September 16 as the Opry salutes the late “Father of Bluegrass,” Bill Monroe,as part of the next “Opry 100 Honors” shows.
Richard Young, one of the band’s founding members, credits Monroe for helping to launch the career of the Headhunters. “Without a doubt, The Kentucky Headhunters’ version of the bluegrass song ‘Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine,’ written by Bill Monroe and Jake Landers and recorded for our indie album, Pickin’ on Nashville, had a huge bearing on Mercury Records president Harold Shedd signing us to the label after seeing us perform the song and several originals at Douglas Corner,” he explains.
Originally, Monroe wasn’t sure about the Headhunters but later changed his tune.
“Initially, Mr. Monroe was less than delighted with our cover of ‘Walk Softly,’” says Young. “But after learning we were fellow Kentuckians and hearing of the song’s new notoriety, he took us under his wing and claimed us as ok cats!”
In addition to The Kentucky Headhunters, next week’s “Opry 100 Honors Bill Monroe” includes performances by Ricky Skaggs, the Del McCoury Band, Carly Pearce, Rhonda Vincent, Riders in the Sky, Wyatt Ellis and The Brothers Comatose.
About The Kentucky Headhunters
The Kentucky Headhunters, declared “the great American rock ‘n’ roll band” by Billboard, began their professional journey in 1968 when brothers Fred and Richard Young and cousins Greg Martin and Anthony Kenney formed the southern blues-rock band Itchy Brother. The band later became The Kentucky Headhunters. Their first album from the early ’90s, Pickin’ on Nashville, was released by Mercury Records and surprised the world, becoming a bona fide hit, selling over two million copies. The album won a GRAMMY® Award, three CMA Awards, an American Music Award and an ACM Award. It spawned four consecutive Top 40 country hits: “Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine,” “Dumas Walker,” “Oh Lonesome Me,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Angel.” The Kentucky Headhunters are Richard Young, Fred Young, Greg Martin and Doug Phelps. To date, accordingly to RIAA, the band has sold over 13 million records worldwide.
For more information on The Kentucky Headhunters, visit kentuckyheadhunters.com.
