Today marks the One Hundredth birthday of country music's most revered symbol, called The Carnegie Hall of the South.
The original building called the Ryman Auditorium was built in 1885 and housed the Union Gospel Tabernacle from 1892 to 1904.
The show was free to attend in the early days. In 1939, they started charging a 25¢ per ticket price and tickets now start at $46 each.
The Ryman Auditorium is the most iconic of the six venues; Elvis Presley sang Blue Moon of Kentucky by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe there in 1954. Seven US presidents have visited the Grand Ole Opry; In 1974, Richard Nixon played piano at the opening of the current location and sang Happy Birthday to his wife Pat Nixon.
It takes 15.8 million feet of audio, video and lighting cable to produce the show today on WSM and SiriusXM radio and internet video streaming.
Aside from all the cut-'n-dry technical stuff BUT because of the historical facts involved, to attend the evetnt has to be an outrageous adventure to remember for a lifetime!
Burning Man? Woodstock? Monterey Jazz Festival? I bet one can go WAY back to other eras to find other, to use an old sixties word, Happenings, in our "post-war" (did it ever stop?) history.
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Styrous® ~ Friday, November 28, 2025
