The Grand Ole Opry Turns 100

The centennial of Nashville's iconic radio show is filled with activities benefiting its legacy.

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What started as the hillbilly WSM Barn Dance in 1925 has become an international sensation.

While it is always a good time at the Grand Ole Opry, 2025 is going to be a big party. A really big party. To honor the 100th anniversary of the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history, the Grand Ole Opry has a year-long celebration planned. From his office backstage, Dan Rogers, senior vice president and executive producer of the Grand Ole Opry, sat down with Nashville Lifestyles to talk about the last 99 years and his vision for the next.

The WSM Barn Dance became the Grand Ole Opry in 1927, and since then, it has worked to encompass all things country music. Membership in the Opry is not just an honorific. New members are invited (often surprised on stage by a musical mentor). Members must make a certain number of appearances on the stage each year. The show’s formula calls for multiple acts with artists from across genres. On any given night, audiences are treated to gospel, bluegrass, Western swing, and contemporary country.

There isn’t room for a list of 100, but here are seven things Rogers says listeners can expect at the Opry this year:

  1. Road Trips. Officially, the Opry has had six homes, including what is now the Belcourt Theatre, War Memorial Auditorium, Ryman Auditorium, and its present home, Grand Ole Opry House (which was added to the National Register of Historic Places for the 90th anniversary.) It’s also been performed elsewhere, such as at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena after the 2010 flood. In 2025, the Opry will be broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London. Rogers expects this event to be the first of many international shows for the Opry in its next 100 years.
  2. More Debuts. 100 debuts, to be exact. In the last three years, the Opry has invited more people to join than any other period in its history. During the 100th celebration, it will invite 100 different performers (country musicians and those who play outside the genre) to the stage and make their debut. That starts on January 18, with Shaboozey’s debut. 
  1. Paying Honor. For as much as the Opry is looking forward and welcoming new voices, it is not forgetting those whose sounds helped make the show what it is. Throughout the year, it will produce Opry 100 Honors shows, focusing on iconic artists, such as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash or Patsy Cline. A portion of ticket sales from those shows will benefit the Opry Trust Fund, which assists members of the country music community in need.
  2. More Shows. In addition to the specialty shows, there will be more shows gracing the airwaves (and Internet connections) than before. The plan is for more than 230 shows (that’s an average of more than four per week!) in 2025. Some shows will be on the stage of Ryman Auditorium, with most at the Grand Ole Opry House, where it moved in 1974.
  3. Fame for Fans. Opry fans have good stories. Rogers himself certainly does. He started at the Opry as an intern and is the man in charge. Every week a different Opry fan will be highlighted, with a shout-out on the broadcast and an opportunity to share their country- music story. Those fans will be offered a ticket (either to that show or another if the timing doesn’t work out for the one on which they will be featured).
  4. Song Ratings. In what is sure to be a talked about, if not controversial move, the Opry is not only appreciating fans but giving them a say. The Opry will ask its fans to rank their favorite country- music hits. Then, the Opry will name country music’s 100 all-time greatest songs as determined by fans. Those songs will be played and showcased at different shows throughout the year.
  1. Goodies. There will be plenty of anniversary-specific merch, plus 100 Years of Grand Ole Opry, a book written by Craig Shelburne that is the first to include every Opry member and their contributions, as told by the artists themselves. The book publishes in April. And, the party never ends: On November 28, the exact 100th anniversary, there will be all the birthday fixings, including a larger-than-life cake.

Tickets (which cost slightly more than when the Opry started first charging $0.25 in the 1930s) are available online at opry100.com.