The Grand Ole Opry is the world’s longest-running broadcast. WSM radio NashvilleOn this day in history, Nov. 28, 1995.
History.com reports that the original name of the showcase was Barn Dance. It was named after the National Barn Dance in Chicago, which had started broadcasting the previous years.
“Impressed at the success of Chicago’s National Barn Dance, WSM radio in Nashville decided that they would create their own version to appeal to the southern audience who couldn’t receive the Chicago signal.”
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The Barn Dance was renamed Grand Ole Opry in 1927, thanks to an unscripted moment of inspiration from George D. Hay on December 10, 1927.
“Following an NBC telecast of Walter Damrosch’s Music Appreciation Hour [a classical music program], Hay proclaimed on-air, ‘For the past hour we have been listening to the music taken largely from the Grand Opera, but from now on we will present the grand ole opry,'” writes the Opry website in its history of the moment that reshaped the future of American music.
George D. Hay is the founder of Grand Ole Opry. He is shown with his signature whistle under one arm and the WSM microphone near his head.
(Grand Ole Opry Archives).
Hay’s “grand ole opry” turn of phrase resonated instantly with listeners.
The Barn Dance broadcast was soon renamed the Grand Ole Opry — and has been going strong ever since.
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Hay “was a remarkable visionary and colorful romantic who played a vital role in the commercializing and Promotion of country musicCountry Music Hall of Fame:
The Barn Dance broadcast was quickly renamed as the Grand Ole Opry, and it has been strong ever since.
The Grand Ole Opry was originally broadcast from the fifth-floor radio station studio of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in Nashville.
In 1932, WSM, the first clear channel station in Tennessee, installed a 50,000-watt transmitter. This helped propel the Opry’s growth.
According to the station’s website, WSM has become “a nation-spanning giant” thanks to its new technology.
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Now, the Grand Ole Opry could now be heard throughout large swathes of the country, well beyond Nashville.
It was declared a national institution.
The broadcast became so popular, it was moved to the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville by 1943.
A Thousand Horses will perform at the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville, August 27, 2022. The Grand Ole Opry moved in March 1974 from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to its current Opryland location.
(Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital
In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry established Opryland, a theater and country music campus. It is located about 10 miles east from the city center.
The Opryland theater continues to be a showcase for American songcraft, from the traditional Appalachian fiddlers and top hits of contemporary country music.
In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry opened Opryland, a country-music campus and theater that was built by the Grand Ole Opry.
History.com reports that both the Grand Ole Opry as well as the National Barn Dance were broadcast on Saturday nights. They featured folk music, fiddling and the relatively new form of country-western musical music.
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“Both shows created a growing audience for a uniquely American style of music and were launching grounds for many of America’s most-loved musicians — the Gene Autry singing as a cowboyHis first major break was at the National Barn Dance.
Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Dolly PartonAll received national acclaim for their early performances at the Grand Ole Opry.
Dolly Parton, an American singer and songwriter, poses with Loretta Lynn, a singer and songwriter from America circa 1997 at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
(Photo by Ron Davis/Getty Images).
A statue depicting Lynn. Who died last monthToday, he is seen standing outside Ryman Auditorium.
Cash, an unassuming teenager in 1950, met June Carter, who was already a famous country-music performer backstage at Ryman Auditorium.
Johnny Cash’s image is everywhere in the Music City. This ad was displayed during a Grand Ole Opry performance that promoted Cash sites in downtown Nashville.
(Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital
Their romance would be one of the most famous in American pop culture history.
Guinness World Records named the Grand Ole Opry the world’s longest-running broadcast, in 2004, according to Guinness World Records.
George Hay, broadcaster, with Uncle Dave Macon and Paul Warmack, in an early WSM broadcast.
(Grand Ole Opry Archives)
Grand Ole Opry was the unique name that Hay created in an instant of inspiration. It has been a crucial part of the broadcast’s rural American identity, which has been critical to its success.
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Jen Larson, Opry Archivist, stated that Hay had a romantic, nostalgic view of rural life, music, and culture.
