Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum

The Country Music Association established the first Country Music Hall of Fame® in 1961, and the original inductees were Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Fred Rose. The first plaques were displayed in the Tennessee State Museum. In 1967, the Country Music Hall of Fame® opened on the corner of Sixteenth Avenue and Division Street on Music Row. The current building was finished in 2001. It houses recordings, instruments and archival files. The museum tells of the fascinating history of country music. As you look at the building, you’ll notice that its front was built to look like a piano keyboard.

Inside is a history of country music—and you can hear samples of recordings as well as see memorabilia from artists, songwriters, and musicians. The museum covers everything from early string band recordings and barn dances up to current country music. A barn dance was a country music show that was broadcast, usually on Saturday nights. It was actually a variety show intended for a rural audience and there was lots of humor as well as lots of music. The Grand Ole Opry is a barn dance that is still going.

Why was it broadcast on Saturday nights? Well, the wealthy folks could afford to go out on Saturday nights, but the folks in the country couldn’t—so radio brought entertainment into their homes for free.

The museum covers rockabilly music, the Nashville Sound, and features modern day contemporary country music. You can see handwritten lyrics, the guitars and other instruments used by performers, and even the gold piano and gold Cadillac owned by Elvis. You can also see a car designed by Nudie, the famous maker of rhinestone outfits. That car has lots of silver dollars in the upholstery. You wouldn’t want to park that on a city street these days! There is a rotunda where the plaques of those inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame are displayed with an inverted model of the WSM radio tower displayed. WSM was the radio station that broadcast the Grand Ole Opry.

The museum also houses the Taylor Swift Center for Education, which opened in 2013 and holds hands-on educational programming connected to the museum’s collection. She donated $4 million to the Hall of Fame to endow the center. There’s programs featuring artists, songwriters, and musicians that are presented by the Hall of Fame. You might want to check and see if there’s a special program today.

Another important piece of the Country Music Hall of Fame® complex is Hatch Show Print, a historic shop dating back to 1875 that continues to be an active print shop and museum. Hatch Show Print has produced posters for all forms of entertainment, using a process of wood blocks and metal plates, inked and pressed by hand, which has made the business nationally famous. They are still active and their posters are more popular than ever. The original Country Music Hall of Fame was torn down, but if you’d like to see where it used be, take our Music Row Tour.

After you walk out the front door of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, turn LEFT, like you’re heading back to the Music City Center. At the corner you will reach Fifth Avenue, turn RIGHT, crossing Demonbreun Street, walk up Fifth Avenue, away from the Hall of Fame. Stop when you find a good place to see Bridgestone Arena, which is on your left.