Kelsea Ballerini inducted into Grand Ole Opry by Carrie Underwood

April 17 (UPI) -- Kelsea Ballerini was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by Carrie Underwood, making the singer the youngest member of the legendary Nashville stage show.

Underwood helped usher Ballerini into the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday with a speech.

"This is the heart and soul of country music. The Opry has been and will always be here, the heart and soul of country music, the family. You are in it," Underwood said onstage before handing Ballerini an award.

"I just want to say that it's so nice and comforting to know that no matter where life takes me, and no matter if the radio stops playing me tomorrow and whatever happens, that I can always come and that I can always play country music," Ballerini, 25, said with tears in her eyes.

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music show and the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history. Ballerini made her Grand Ole Opry debut in February 2015.