Carlos DeFord Bailey is continuing his family's legacy of shining shoes and making music at the Opry

Carlos DeFord Bailey lights up the stage at the Grand Ole Opry, a testament to the musical and cultural legacy coursing through his veins. 

Bailey, who has been a familiar face to travelers at Nashville's airport for the past 25 years as the "Music City Shoeshining Man," transforms by night into a singer, carrying forward a family tradition. 

His grandfather, DeFord Bailey, made history as the Opry's first Black performer and country music's first Black star, earning the nickname "Harmonica Wizard" in the mid-1920s and getting his start on the radio.