Grand Ole Opry's One-Night-Only Event Books 87-Year-Old Country Legend

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Grand Ole Opry's One-Night-Only Event Books 87-Year-Old Country Legend originally appeared on Parade.

The Grand Ole Opry is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and it just announced a new historic event, headlined by a country music icon.

As part of its 100th anniversary celebration in 2025, the Grand Ole Opry announced on Tuesday, July 1, that it will make a one-night-only return to Ryman Auditorium on July 17. The show will re-create the historic final night at the Ryman that took place on March 15, 1974.

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"The July 17 show will feature a collection of performances destined to return fans to the historic night of March 15, 1974, the final night of the Opry’s original Ryman run. Throughout that portion of the show, moments from the 1974 broadcast will be closely recreated for the Ryman and radio audiences," reads the press release.

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Part of re-creating that historic night involves the Opry's longest-serving member, Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson. He performed on the final night at Ryman, and he is set to reprise his set for this special event.

In addition to Anderson, country star Lorrie Morgan will perform. Her father George Morgan was the final artist to perform at that fateful 1974 show. Mandy Barnett, Chuck Mead and The Band Perry will also be performing on July 17.

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Click here to purchase tickets to this historic event.

“The last Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman would have been special under any circumstances,” Anderson said in a statement, “but it was made extra special for me by the fact that my mom and dad had driven up from Georgia to be in the audience. Twenty years earlier, in 1954, they had brought me to Nashville and to the Ryman to see the Opry for the very first time. None of us could have ever imagined the summer before my senior year in high school that only a few years later I would be performing on that very stage, let alone go on to become the longest-serving Opry member in history."

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He continued, "That night in 1974, I stood alongside many of my heroes from those earlier days, smiling down at my parents, and saying so long to the only Opry home I had ever known…definitely a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. When the Opry asked me if I'd be part of helping to re-create that last night at the Ryman in 1974…and sing the songs I sang back then…I readily agreed. ‘Just don't ask me to wear the same clothes I wore that night,’ I quipped. ’Even if I could find them, I'd never be able to get in them!’"

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“I am certain this is going to be another unforgettable part of our 100th year,” said Opry Executive Producer Dan Rogers in a statement. “For generations of Opry fans and artists, the Opry’s 1943 – 1974 run at the Ryman was a truly magical part of the Opry’s 100-year history. While we can’t actually turn back time, we’re going to do our best with performances and even commercial reads to transport fans to that historic evening when the Opry said farewell to the Mother Church of Country Music. I grew up listening to my parents talk about having witnessed Opry shows at the Ryman during that era, and for an hour or so on July 17, we’ll all have an experience similar to theirs.”

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Grand Ole Opry's One-Night-Only Event Books 87-Year-Old Country Legend first appeared on Parade on Jul 1, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.