'Star Trek's William Shatner to Make Grand Ole Opry Debut

William Shatner will give his first performance at the legendary Grand Ole Opry next month, [...]

By Michael Hein

William Shatner will give his first performance at the legendary Grand Ole Opry next month, proving that there are still milestones even he has not hit.

Shatner will take the hallowed stage on Friday, Feb. 15, according to a report by Taste of Country. The 87-year-old actor collaborated on a country album titled, Why Not Me with Alabama co-founder Jeff Cook last year, and now they are taking it live. Shatner delivers his signature spoken-word style on the record, as he presumably will on stage.

The album puts Shatner's famous self-effacing sense of humor on full display. The tracklist includes such gems as "Too Old to Be Vegan," "I Hate to Waste Good Beer" and even one titled, "Beam Me Up." Of course, there are some more serious numbers in there too.

"I love country music," Shatner said in a press release. "A lot of people I know are country artists, and I envy them. The terrible truth is that I can't sing, but what I do have is a feeling for poetry. I am trying to fuse the spoken word with music."

While Shatner is most closely associated with science fiction, he is no stranger to the world of country music. In 2015, he appeared on the CMA Awards for a skit alongside Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. Years before, he also did two cameo appearances in Paisley's music videos — one for "Online" and the other for "Celebrity."

To most, however, Shatner will always be the beloved captain of the Enterprise, James T. Kirk. The actor has accepted his endless association with space travel and futuristic fantasy, even as some of the ficiton he has taken part in becomes a reality.

This week on Twitter, Shatner revealed that he would still be willing to take a real-life journey into the final frontier. A fan tweeted at Shatner asking if he would tag along on one of the missions planned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, and he replied that he would.

"Yes, with him in the seat next to me," Shatner wrote. "I'll hold his hand during takeoff as an added bonus!"

Musk did not respond to Shatner's offer, though the tech CEO is dealing with his own social media controversies at the moment. In the meantime, Shatner has plenty of his own projects to handle. He has a long list of appearances at conventions and trade shows already laid out for 2019. Tickets for his show at the Grand Ole Opry are on sale now.

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