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The Grand Ole Opry revolutionized entertainment in the United States, mixing music with comedy, gospel, and bright personalities. The radio show, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025, was also instrumental in making Nashville, Tennessee, the country music capital of the world, and was largely responsible for bringing country music into the mainstream.
In the early 20th century, before the days of household televisions, people found their entertainment on the radio waves. One of the most famous, influential, and long-standing radio shows in history is the Grand Ole Opry.
Before the Grand Ole Opry, there was the National Barn Dance. This radio show, broadcast from Chicago, Illinois, first jumped on the radio waves in 1924 and supplied most of the American Midwest with a hearty dose of homey country tunes every Saturday night. The National Barn Dance was a direct precursor and inspiration for the Grand Ole Opry.
Acting as the fulcrum of popular folk and country music for nearly 100 years, the Grand Ole Opry's history has become inseparably intertwined with the history of American music at large. Few entertainment events have as grand a story as that of the Ole Opry.
Country music shows like the National Barn Dance thrived in rural areas in the midst of the "Roaring Twenties." America was industrializing at an incredible speed, leaving many country folk feeling nostalgic for the simpler days of the past. This led to a burst in popularity for folk and country music, and presented radio networks with a new national itch to scratch.
On November 28, 1925, broadcasting live in front of a small audience from the building of a Nashville life insurance company, Hay announced himself as the "Solemn Old Judge," the official announcer of the WSM Barn Dance, accompanied by legendary folk fiddler, already 77 years old at the time, Uncle Jimmy Thompson (not pictured). This date has gone down as the birth of the legendary radio show that is now known as the Grand Ole Opry.
The Fruit Jar Drinkers, led by banjo player Uncle Dave Macon (pictured), was a favorite of the Opry, and they were one of the first acts to be named official members of the Grand Ole Opry. The Fruit Jar Drinkers were always the last act of the show, on the request of George D. Hay, who wanted to end each show on a high note with their "red hot fiddle playing."
One George Dewey Hay (pictured right), a popular radio presenter who once hosted the National Barn Dance in Chicago, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and began making plans with the station to bring a country music show to America's eastern seaboard.
The show was an instant success, bringing in large numbers of listeners and all sorts of talented acts. Many of the earliest members of the Opry found fame for the first time on the Opry's radio waves.
Bill Monroe, known today as the founder and father of bluegrass music, graced the Grand Ole Opry with his mandolin and supporting band, the Blue Grass Boys, on a regular basis.
As a show spiritually built on nostalgia and Americana, the costumes of the acts, both comedic and musical, were always reminiscent of the days of coal mining and cattle rearing.
As the years went on, the popularity of the Grand Ole Opry grew at a spectacular rate. By the turn of the 1930s, it was time for the Opry to find a new, bigger home.
After moving around for nearly a decade, the Grand Ole Opry finally made a semi-permanent home for itself in the old Ryman Auditorium in the center of Nashville. The building became known as the Grand Ole Opry House, and was the home of the show from 1943 until 1974.
The history of American country music inevitably weaved through the history of the Grand Ole Opry. Timeless icons of music have passed along its stage over the course of nearly a century.
Early folk and country music celebrated the simple traditions of rural life, and appealed to the working and lower classes of American society who were beginning to feel left behind by the rapid modernization of America, and the mass migrations from rural areas towards the country's flourishing cities.
Attendance for the Opry's weekly Saturday evening shows, which usually stretched on for four hours, exploded after the move in 1943. It was officially the biggest event in Nashville, and the 2,000-plus seat auditorium was regularly sold out every Saturday.
One of the greatest and most influential singer-songwriters of American music, Hank Williams regularly graced the stage of the Grand Ole Opry during his short lifetime. During his first night on stage, in 1949, Williams was called back for no less than six encores.
Two years after Elvis Presley played his first and last Opry, another music legend, Johnny Cash, was accepted into the Opry's ranks. It was on the night of his first appearance, in July 1956, that Cash met his future second wife, June Carter Cash. June was a member of the long-time Opry member group, the Carter Family. In 1965, Cash was banned from the Opry for drunkenly smashing the stage lights with his microphone stand.
Roy Acuff, known today as the King of Country, auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in 1938 with his band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. They would go on to become the show's most popular act, and Roy Acuff himself hosted the Opry from 1939 to 1946.
One of the most widely-loved figures in the history of music, Dolly Parton is one of the Opry's most famous and most loyal members. Parton was only 13 years old at the time of her first Opry performance, and has continued to stop by her old stomping grounds on a regular basis up through the 21st century.
Jeannie Seely might not be the most famous artist to grace the Opry stage, but she does hold the distinction of being the most frequent performer in the history of the Grand Ole Opry, appearing a mind-boggling 5,226 times over the course of her 55-year-long career.
Elvis Presley himself played the Grand Ole Opry in 1954, at the young age of 19. But his gyrating hips and fast-paced rock music didn't quite gel with the Opry's emphasis on tradition and wholesomeness, and he was never invited back.
One of the most famous women in country music, Patsy Cline first auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry at the tender age of 15. It wasn't until 1960, however, that she was officially made a member, only three years before her tragic death at the age of 30.
Willie Nelson, a subversive country icon and a bridge between the worlds of classic and modern country, made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage in 1965.
Loretta Lynn became a member of the Grand Ole Opry before she was 25 years old, after the surprise success of her debut record 'A Coal Miner's Daughter.' With the help of the Opry, she would go on to become one of the most successful country singers of the 20th century.
One of the longest standing members of the Grand Ole Opry, the King of Country himself, Roy Acuff performed at the Opry for the last time in October 1992, just one month before he passed at the age of 89. In the years before his death, Acuff had lived on the grounds of the Grand Ole Opry House and helped set up every Saturday.
When the Cumberland River flooded in May 2010, huge swaths of Nashville were affected, including the Grand Ole Opry House. The venue was closed until September 2010, but the show didn't skip a beat in between. The Opry was warmly welcomed by a host of venues while repairs were in progress.
The Grand Ole Opry has seen the world change around it. World War II and various other conflicts have raged and dissipated since the Opry's first broadcast in 1925. The world has changed, but Nashville's Grand Ole Opry remains as a reminder of simpler times.
For decades, the only ways to experience the Grand Ole Opry were through the radio or in person. On March 4, 1978, the Opry was televised for the first time.
Few radio shows have had as large an impact on American culture are the Grand Ole Opry. Through the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the 2008 market crash and more, this four-hour long music and variety show has blessed the airwaves of America every Saturday evening to remind people of simpler times and simpler lives. The Opry was also a proving ground for some of the brightest luminaries in music, acting as the beating heart of the music capital of the nation: Nashville, Tennessee. Legends from Elvis Presley to Dolly Parton graced the Opry stage at impressively early ages, before going on to become stars.
What more is there to know about the longest-running American music show of all time? Read on to find out.
The Grand Ole Opry: America's favorite and longest-running music show
The nearly 100-year-old home of country music and Americana
MUSIC Country music
Few radio shows have had as large an impact on American culture are the Grand Ole Opry. Through the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the 2008 market crash and more, this four-hour long music and variety show has blessed the airwaves of America every Saturday evening to remind people of simpler times and simpler lives. The Opry was also a proving ground for some of the brightest luminaries in music, acting as the beating heart of the music capital of the nation: Nashville, Tennessee. Legends from Elvis Presley to Dolly Parton graced the Opry stage at impressively early ages, before going on to become stars.
What more is there to know about the longest-running American music show of all time? Read on to find out.