History of the Grand Ole Opry

The Grand Ole Opry is a live syndicated radio show heard on 650 WSM-AM in Nashville. Over 200 Country and Western radio stations across the country broadcast the show weekly. It is the longest-running radio show in the world.

George D. Hay was the announcer on a new show called "The WSM Barn Dance" on November 28, 1925. Uncle Jimmy Thompson a fiddle player who was 80 years old was the first guest performer. He knew he had found a good format; he just had no idea how good.

In 1928, Hay referred to the music as coming from the "Grand Ole Opry." The name stuck. The show had five homes before it finally landed at its sixth, the Ryman Auditorium. It remained there for 31 years.

In 1974, the new theater was opened to anchor the entertainment at the Opryland Resort. To keep the tradition going, a circle of wood was cut from the Ryman Auditorium and placed in the center of the new stage. Finally, they had a home that could hold the thousands of fans who to view the live weekly shows. The seating is done in two tiers and over 4000 people can attend any performance of the Opry.

Since this is a live radio show, it is quite different from a normal show experience. What you have is a performer doing two or three songs, the announcer doing a break, and the Opry Square Dancers coming out and doing their routine. Some comedy is thrown in and a star or two.

Even if you are far from the stage, it isn't hard to view everything. Four huge screens broadcast the performance. The acoustics here are great. This is a very enjoyable way to spend an evening. The seats look like church pews with cushions on them. You are seated on a bench, so you actually have a little more room than you normally would have.

Part of the recent renovations was the addition of a new store. It is huge and has lots of goodies for the die-hard fan. If you want a snack, there are vendors selling popcorn, candy, and all the usual show food. Seats can run anywhere from $27 to $47. You can get them from the box office, online or on the telephone.

One thing it is important to know is that the Grand Ole Opry refers only to the Saturday evening show. If you go to the Opry on Friday night, that's what it is, The Opry, not the Grand Ole Opry.

If you want to find out more about the stars who have performed at the Grand Ole Opry, a visit to the Ryman Auditorium is a must. You will see lots of memorabilia in cases and there are docent volunteers on each floor who will be more than happy to share their vast wealth of knowledge about the building, the music and the stars who performed there over the years and all the greats did.