3 minutes | Friday, November 28, 2025
Today is a big day for country radio, it’s been 100 years since the debut of the Grand Ole Opry, the home of country music, and one of the longest-running radio broadcasts in U.S history
The radio program, WSM Barn Dance, aired for the first time on WSM in Nashville, with its very first performer, 77-year-old Uncle Jimmy Thompson, who fiddled for hours during the broadcast. Barn Dance would eventually become the Grand Ole Opry, showcasing folk, fiddles, ballads, string bands, and what people called “hillbilly” music - the country music industry really didn’t exist yet.
The Opry played a critical role in popularizing country music across North America, creating a launchpad for generations of country artists and defining Nashville’s role as “Music City.”