Grand Ole Opry celebrates milestone 5,000th Saturday night broadcast

Grand Ole Opry members Bill Anderson, Garth Brooks, Terri Clark, John Conlee, The Gatlin Brothers, Vince Gill, The Isaacs, Chris Janson, Dustin Lynch, Darius Rucker, Jeannie Seely, Connie Smith, Trisha Yearwood & Chris Young perform 

The Grand Ole Opry, the world’s longest-running radio show, celebrated its historic 5,000th Saturday night broadcast with a star-studded lineup of Opry member performances, including Bill Anderson, Garth Brooks, Terri Clark, John Conlee, The Gatlin Brothers, Vince Gill, The Isaacs, Chris Janson, Dustin Lynch, Darius Rucker, Jeannie Seely, Connie Smith, Trisha Yearwood and Chris Young.

The show opened with more than a dozen Opry members announcing via video in the screen of the Opry’s signature barn backdrop, “Live from Nashville, Music City, USA, this is the 5,000th Saturday night broadcast of the world-famous Grand Ole Opry!”

The first musical selection of the night celebrated Opry pioneers who heard the Opry on the radio then brought the musical styles from their regions of the U.S. to the Opry stage. Among the opening songs featured were “Wabash Cannonball,” “Jambalya,” “San Antonio Rose,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” as performed by Anderson, Smith, The Gatlin Brothers, Rucker, Clark and Janson, respectively. The next two hours featured a mix of country music styles celebrating the past, present and future of country music and led to show closers Brooks and Yearwood, who offered several of their biggest hits and a duet on "In Another's Eyes."

Saturday night's milestone show concluded a month of celebrations: a limited-time tour exhibit, “Opry Memories: Celebrating 5,000 Saturday Night Broadcasts”; special programming on BBC Radio 2 in the U.K.; SiriusXM, the Opry’s flagship WSM Radio, and the Opry’s television broadcast home, CIRCLE Network, hosted special programming last week to preview the Opry show. The first of two shows was streamed live on Circle Network, including its Circle All Access Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels.

WSM Radio began to air the show that would become the Grand Ole Opry in 1925 before expanding to television and eventually digital streaming platforms. The Opry has been on the airwaves longer than any other broadcast program of any medium anywhere in the world and has continued to produce original shows for 5,000 Saturday nights through the Great Depression, World War II, two Nashville floods and, most recently, a global pandemic.

The Grand Ole Opry’s month-long celebration of the historic 5,000th Saturday night broadcast was presented by Humana and sponsored by Tecovas, GEICO and Jewelry Television.

Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville. The Opry can be heard at opry.com and wsmonline.com, Opry and WSM mobile apps, SiriusXM, and its flagship home, 650 AM-WSM. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties. For more information, visit opry.com.