Grand Ole Opry

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country-music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, which was founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a division of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.), it is the longest-running radio broadcast in US history, albeit not the longest-running one on a radio network. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of legends and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and comedic performances and skits. Considered an American icon, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and Internet listeners.

The Opry's current primary slogan is "The Show that Made Country Music Famous". Other slogans include "Home of American Music" and "Country’s Most Famous Stage".

In the 1930s the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours; and WSM, broadcasting by then with 50,000 watts, made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1943. As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America's "country music capital". The Grand Ole Opry holds such significance in Nashville that its name is included on the city/county line signs on all major roadways. The signs read "Music City | Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County | Home of the Grand Ole Opry".

Opry

The word opry is a diminutive form of the word opera, coined by broadcaster George D. Hay in 1927 as the new name of his program, the WSM Barn Dance, to demonstrate the realism of folk and country music compared to the theatrics of grand opera. At that time Hay's show followed a program of operatic music. One night Hay began the Barn Dance by stating, "You have just heard opera. Now you are going to hear the Grand Ole Opry".

The first reference in print to the WSM Barn Dance as the Grand Ole Opry occurred on December 11, 1927, in The Nashville Tennessean. Within six months of Hay's renaming of the program, the title Grand Ole Opry supplanted the generic Barn Dance and became used exclusively as the name of the show. “Opry” is a shortened form of "Grand Ole Opry" and is used by the brand owner and the public to refer to the Grand Ole Opry.

Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of legends and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and comedic performances and skits. Considered an American icon, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and Internet listeners. The Opry is the "show that made country music famous" and has been called the "home of American music" and "country’s most famous stage". The Grand Ole Opry is owned and operated by Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.

Grand

Grand may refer to:

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Carrie Underwood

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Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. She has since become one of the most successful artists in any musical genre. Her achievements led her to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008 and into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2009. She has won numerous music awards, including seven Grammy Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, 11 Academy of Country Music Awards and nine American Music Awards.

Her debut album, Some Hearts, was released in 2005. Carrie grew up with religion being very important to her and that carried over to some of her music.  An example is in her 2^nd single titled “Jesus Take the Wheel.”Bolstered by the huge crossover success of the singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", it became the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history, the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history and the best-selling country album of the last ten years. Underwood won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. Released in 2007, her second album, Carnival Ride, had one of the biggest ever opening weeks by a female artist and earned Underwood two Grammy Awards. Her next album, 2009's Play On, was a commercial success led by the single "Cowboy Casanova". Underwood's fourth album, Blown Away (2012), earned her a Grammy Award and was that year's second best-selling release by a female artist. Her first compilation album (2014) was a chart and sales success and earned her a Grammy Award. Her fifth album, Storyteller (2015), made her the only country artist to have all first five studio albums reach either numbers one or two on the Billboard 200. She has sold more than 65 million records worldwide.

Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a New Zealand-born Australian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and music competition judge. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the following year. He found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Nashville and charted two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Still signed to Capitol, Urban made his solo American debut in 1999 with the album Keith Urban. Certified platinum in the US, it produced his first number one on Hot Country Songs with "But for the Grace of God". "Somebody Like You", the first single from his second Capitol album, Golden Road (2002), was named by Billboard as the biggest country hit of the 2000s decade. The album's fourth single, "You'll Think of Me", earned him his first Grammy. 2004's Be Here, his third American album, produced three more number 1 singles and became his highest-selling album, earning 4× Platinum certification. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, containing "Once in a Lifetime" as well as his second Grammy song, "Stupid Boy". A greatest hits package entitled Greatest Hits: 18 Kids followed in late-2007. Defying Gravity and Get Closer were released on March 31, 2009 and November 16, 2010 respectively. In September 2013, he released a brand new album titled Fuse, which produced four more number ones on the newly introduced Country Airplay chart, two of which are duets with Miranda Lambert and Eric Church. A new single, entitled "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16", was released in June 2015 as the lead-off single to his upcoming eighth American studio album Ripcord.