On December 18, the Grand Ole Opry celebrated the 90th birthday of Little Jimmy Dickens, a 62-year Opry veteran. Opry member and Dickens’ good friend Brad Paisley led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” as Opry members Jeannie Seely, Bill Anderson and Jim Ed Brown rolled out his birthday cake.
Earlier in the evening, Paisley had tweeted a photo of the cake with the message: “Celebrating the 90th B Day of Little Jimmy tonight. Here’s the cake, and he’s in there waiting to jump out actually.”
Throughout the show, Twitter and Facebook greetings from some of Dickens’ fellow country stars and fans from around the world poured in. A sampling of other tweets and posts from friends:
Kix Brooks: “90? He’s been telling all the ladies he’s 76! Happy Birthday, Little Jimmy! Hope it’s the best yet!”
Sara Evans: “Little Jimmy, today you are about 32,986 & ½ days old. 90 doesn’t sound too bad after hearing that, does it? Happy Birthday, we love you!”
Marty Stuart: “Wishing Little Jimmy Dickens a very happy 90th birthday on Sunday – my sincere thanks for bringing country music to new heights.”
Fellow Opry member Trace Adkins visited Jimmy over his birthday weekend, below is a video of their conversation. During the visit, Dickens shares stories of Christmases and birthdays past growing up in West Virginia.
