What Performers Have Gotten Their Start at the Ryman Auditorium?
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- 1 source cited
The Ryman is better known for defining moments than for first gigs, because during its Opry years, 1943 to 1974, performers arrived there already on their way up. The best case for a true start is bluegrass. A Tennessee Historical Commission marker outside calls the Ryman the birthplace of bluegrass music. Wikipedia lists Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys on its stage in 1945 (Wikipedia). The same article names others who played there before the mid-1960s: Little Jimmy Dickens in 1948, Hank Williams in 1949, and the Carter Sisters with Mother Maybelle Carter in 1950. Elvis came in 1954, Johnny Cash in 1956, and Patsy Cline in 1960. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and Minnie Pearl both appear in 1964. Later, the building gave careers a second start. Most episodes of ABC’s The Johnny Cash Show were recorded there and aired from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971. After the Opry left, the Ryman was “mostly vacant and deteriorating for nearly 20 years”, though it never closed. Then, from April 30 to May 2, 1991, Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers played three acoustic concerts in the run-down hall. The recordings became the Grammy-winning album At the Ryman.
Key Moments on the Ryman Stage
| Year | Moment |
|---|---|
| 1913 | Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy draw the Ryman's first sellout, a lecture |
| 1943 to 1974 | the Grand Ole Opry's home |
| 1945 | Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys; the site is marked as the birthplace of bluegrass |
| 1949 | Hank Williams |
| 1954 | Elvis Presley |
| 1969 to 1971 | The Johnny Cash Show is recorded there |
| 1991 | Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers record At the Ryman |
| June 4, 1994 | the renovated hall reopens with A Prairie Home Companion |
Source: Wikipedia, Ryman Auditorium.
The Ryman Today
- Size: 2,362 seats since 1994, at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North.
- Recognition: named Pollstar’s Theater of the Year 13 times, and the Academy of Country Music’s Theater of the Year in 2022.
- Renovations: a 1994 restoration and a $14 million renovation and expansion in 2015.
Tours, tickets, and the building’s history are in what the Ryman Auditorium is, and the Opry’s move is in what the Grand Ole Opry is.