Created in 1925 by place manager George Dewey Hay , the Grand Ole Opry began as a weekly radio set program that feature traditional " body politic " medicine , including folk songs and Greco-Roman mountain tunes . In 1939 , the show propel to NBC radio where it pass tens of thousands of listeners across the country .
During the 1950s , the Opry was one of the nation ’s favorite radio set computer program , and with every song play on the Opry stage send to America , Nashville solidified its spot as the country medicine capital of the earth . Here are a few major stars of the Grand Ole Opry .
1. Hank Williams
By the mid-1930s , Hank Williams ’s legendary euphony calling was well afoot and would amaze everyone for years to come . Despite 12 number - one songs , include " Hey Good Lookin ' , " Williams battled alcoholism , which almost cost him a probability at the Opry . producer could n’t bear not to feature Williams , however , and the country superstar fall in the cast in 1949 . He was promise back for six encores the first fourth dimension he performed .
Williams go bad at age 29 , from a ticker approach , possibly brought on by drug and alcohol abuse .
2. Patsy Cline
From baseborn beginnings come Patsy Cline , one of the most recognizable voices in country music . In 1957 , Cline made her first national television show on Arthur Godfrey’sTalent Scouts , singe what would become her first hit song , " Walkin ' After Midnight . " Three years later , Cline achieved a lifelong dream when she became a phallus of the Opry . Tragically , however , Cline choke in a plane clash in 1963 , just five years after her popularity snowballed .
3. Minnie Pearl
An upper - class girl from Tennessee , Sarah Colley decide to skitter the deb balls and formal education to act on the music hall lap . Colley created the character of Minnie Pearl after witness the brassy demeanour of a mountain lady during an unskilled clowning show in 1936 .
When she link up the Opry in 1940 , 28 - twelvemonth - old Colley had no mind she would spend the next 50 years in show business performing as Minnie Pearl and wearing her trademark husk chapeau with the $ 1.98 cost tag still attached .
4. Dolly Parton
As a young little girl farm up in the heart of Appalachia , Dolly Parton sang like a snort and even wrote her own songs modeled after the folksy tunes she find out from her parents . After appearing on a televise talent show , she was book at the Opry in 1959 at the attendant age of 13 .
Parton recorded steadily during the 1960s , but it was n’t until 1967 that her career skyrocket when she was cast on thePorter Wagoner Show . Parton has latterly returned to her roots , recording several critically - acclaimed bluegrass album .
On the next few Page you will notice more notable Grand Ole Opry performer , including Garth Brooks .
5. Garth Brooks
Not one , not two , not three , but four of Garth Brooks ’s country records have each exceed sales of ten million – he ’s the only virile land star in story to reach such a feat . Though he ’s currently retired , Brooks has sold more than 100 million records worldwide , and he even has a whiz on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in movies and television .
Hits such as " Friends in Low Places " have won him 2 Grammys , 11 Country Music Association Awards , and 24 Billboard Music Awards , but he claim that his membership in the Opry is his proudest career accomplishment .
6. Roy Acuff
In the thirties and 1940s , no one sold more country music platter than Roy Acuff . In 1938 , this warbler became a even performing artist and host on the Grand Ole Opry wireless program . know as the " King of Country Music , " his performance of " The Great Speckled Bird " changed the Opry constantly – until then singers usually played 2nd fiddle to the ring .
7. Deford Bailey
When Deford Bailey was arise up in rural Tennessee , his parents give him a harp , and chronicle was made . Bailey ’s ability with the " harp " was nonpareil , and after he actuate to Nashville , a few golden break got him gigs playing on radio shows . In 1927 , those jailbreak helped him put down a spot on the Opry – without a formal audition . Bailey was the first African - American included in the Opry cast and was one of the highest - pay stars of his twenty-four hour period .
8. Loretta Lynn
Everyone ’s favorite " coal miner ’s daughter " joined the Opry after getting get hitched with , having four child , and ratify a recording contract – all before age 25 . Lynn and her husband , Mooney , distributed ( largely by hand ) her first single , " I ’m a Honky Tonk Girl , " and through intelligence of mouth and steady airplay , the single reached phone number 14 on the country charts in 1960 .
That impressive debut stupefy Lynn her first coming into court at the Opry that year , which advance her career to the next level . She would go on to have scads of megahits by blending her commonwealth girlfriend simulacrum with some strong guinea pig matter , such as parentage control and deadbeat married man . Coal Miner ’s Daughter , Lynn ’s autobiography , was made into an Academy Award - winning motion picture in 1980 .
9. Johnny Cash
The people on this inclination are all Titan of the country music world , but few are as well known as Johnny Cash , who has a post in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The " Man in Black " conjoin the Opry in 1956 following the achiever of his hit single " I Walk the logical argument . " But he only stuck around for two year .
Though Cash would combat habituation , a acrid divorcement , and several calling missteps , his popularity billow in the sixties and again in the nineties before his death in 2003 .
10. Willie Nelson
Rabble - arouser , political militant , talented musician , and chart - topper Willie Nelson is probably one of the more controversial figure to grace the Opry point and the country medicine prospect . But his straight-from-the-shoulder nature does n’t eclipse his melodic ambition or gift . Between 1962 and 1993 , Nelson racked up 20 number - one hit , and 114 unity made it to the nation and/or pop out charts .
A indefatigable counsellor for the American farmer , the seventy - something Nelson has do all over the macrocosm and recorded countless vocal both on his own and with a eye-popping card of collaborators , including Patsy Cline , Johnny Cash , and Waylon Jennings .
11. The Carter Family
know as the First Family of Country Music , the Carter Family read more than 300 classical land songs that embodied the simple language and harmonies that continue to define the genre . Various members of the crime syndicate came and move in several embodiment of the group , and by the prison term the Carters got to the Opry around 1946 , the now all - female chemical group was billed as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters .
June Carter later wed Johnny Cash and cobalt - wrote some of his biggest hit , include " Ring of Fire . " Pete Seeger , Woody Guthrie , and Bob Dylan have all adduce the Carter Family as influences in their careers and have covered Carter Family tunes .
12. “Uncle Dave” Macon
One of the first star of the Opry , David Harrison Macon was one of the major accelerator behind country music ’s popularity . southerly folk music from the former 1800s and early 1900s might not have made the leap to wireless , stage , and television had it not been for the charismatic quality of Uncle Dave and his public presentation .
Macon played the banjo and blab at the Opry – which he had a hand in establishing – for more than 25 years . He was a workhorse of a instrumentalist and influenced thespian for decades to come .
13. Grandpa Jones
It ’s a respectable thing Louis Marshall Jones was a successful body politic creative person for more than seven decades – it move over him time to produce into the moniker he was given at age 22 after being tell apart he sounded " old and grouchy " on radio set appearance . The singer and banjo player , who was know as a country music purist , promised fans that he would " keep it country " while other vogue influenced the genre .
Jones ' witty repartee made him a champion on the television set showHee Haw , and he was one of the few stars to fete 50 years on the Opry stage .
14. Elvis Presley
The most famous and successful name in innovative euphony did n’t actually fair very well when he appeared at the Opry in 1954 . It was Presley ’s only operation at the Opry – the consultation was n’t impressed by his raucous rockabilly manner .
An angry Presley left after the show , swearing never to return . Who could blame him ? The Opry coach at the clock time tell him to leave euphony forever and go back to driving a truck . plainly , Elvis did n’t take his advice and went on to let on every music industry record there was .
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS :
Helen Davies , Marjorie Dorfman , Mary Fons , Deborah Hawkins , Martin Hintz , Linnea Lundgren , David Priess , Julia Clark Robinson , Paul Seaburn , Heidi Stevens , and Steve Theunissen
