Reba McEntire invites Little Big Town to join Grand Ole Opry

NASHVILLE, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Reba McEntire had a special surprise for Little Big Town over the weekend.

The 59-year-old singer unexpectedly joined the country group on stage as they performed "Pontoon," and surprised members Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet with an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry.

"I thought, 'Who's singing?'" Westbrook recalled backstage. "People ask, 'How do you know when you've made it?' Now I know."

"This is like the pinnacle," wife Fairchild agreed. "This is forever. Here, in the ladies' dressing room tonight, I was looking at [photos of] Emmylou [Harris] and Dolly [Parton] and Patsy [Cline], and now we're going to be [in the club]."

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert broadcast as a one-hour radio show since November 1925. Performances take place at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, and membership is considered a crowning achievement in country music akin to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Members are required to show their dedication to the institution by performing a minimum of 12 shows per year.

Little Big Town formed in 1998, and have released five studio albums in the past 14 years. The group last released Tornado in 2012, and plan to debut their sixth studio album, Pain Killer, on October 21. Little Big Town will be inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on October 17.