News

Although Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium has hosted concerts and events from virtually every musical genre in its 128-year history, its integral role in the birth of bluegrass is one of the hallowed venue’s most important claims to fame. Shortly after its restoration and renovation led to the reopening of the Ryman in June 1994, two of the world’s most influential bluegrass artists, Alison Krauss and Bill Monroe, took the stage for the first of what has become an annual tradition: the Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman concert series.

This...

In August, Trace Adkins surprised Dustin Lynch with an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. On Tuesday night, Reba McEntire made it official, inducting the Tullahoma, Tennessee, native as the newest member of the country music institution.

Introduced by Opry emcee Eddie Stubbs as “a household name in American entertainment,” McEntire appeared onstage during Lynch’s performance to present him with his Opry trophy.

“I know how you feel. Forty-one years ago yesterday was the first time I got to sing on this stage, September 17th, 1977,” McEntire, an Opry member since 1985, told Lynch.

Mel Tillis, Country Music Hall of Famer known for his stammer when he spoke that disappeared when he sang, died Sunday morning of suspected respiratory failure. He was 85. Tillis’ publicist, Don Murry Grubbs, told Tennessean that the “Coca Cola Cowboy” singer never fully recovered from diverticulitis surgery in January 2016 and spent a month in the intensive care unit battling sepsis. “Mel Tillis was a guy who had it all: He could write, he could sing and he could entertain an audience,” said Grand Ole Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs. “There’s a big difference between a concert and a show. Mel Tillis always.

How sad. We’ve just learned the tragic news that the iconic Grand Ole Opry veteran passed away on Mar. 14 from Alzheimer’s disease.

Jack Greene, legendary country star and “There Goes My Everything” singer, died in his sleep on Mar. 14. He was 83 years old.

Jack Greene: Country Star Passes Away

Nicknamed “The Jolly Green Giant” due to his height, Jack won the hearts of the country world with his deep, smooth voice and jubilant on-stage presence.

Jack had a wonderful career — he was nominated for three Grammy Awards, and in 1967 won “Male Vocalist of the Year,” “Single of the Year,” “Album of the Year,” and “Song of the Year” at the very first Country Music Association Awards for his hit song, “There Goes My Everything.”

The singer was a native of Tennessee, where he got his start in the music business as a radio disc jockey. Since then he...

Nashville, Tenn. -- It may be impossible to overstate the importance of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash's baritone or Hank Williams' heartbreak.

Scruggs died Wednesday morning at age 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.

"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound...

Nashville, Tenn. — It is impossible to overstate the importance of Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash's baritone or Hank Williams' heartbreak.

Scruggs passed away Wednesday morning at 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.

"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been...

Top Five Off-beat Zombies!

Halloween, and the shambling undead are getting into the damndest places. Yes, from AMC’s The Walking Dead to the big budget adaptation of World War Z, zombies are everywhere. But are all zombies created equal? Nope! Oh, sure, some get the big-time press, but what of those condemned to languish in the shallow grave of obscurity?

As we recall the dead this season, I thought it’d be good to commemorate a few of the lesser-known animated corpses that, over the years, have wormed their way into our hearts, ripped them beating from our chests, and chowed down upon them as we watched. Vive les morts!

5. Garth Simon (Tales of the Zombie)

They work as a horde, but even Stan (the Man) Lee, creator of Spider-man, The Hulk, etc. etc, had a hard time making a single zombie an interesting character. He gave it his...