Grand Ole Opry Owners May Sell Historic Venue

The owners of Nashville’s famed Grand Ole Opry could put the historic venue up for sale.

The Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast has been home to country music’s most iconic artists for nearly 100 years, with legends such as Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley performing on the its stages, from the Ryman Auditorium to Grand Ole Opry House.

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc., which owns a 70 percent stake in Opry Entertainment Group, has hired Morgan Stanley & Co. to find a buyer for the music venues, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The real estate investment trust didn’t deny that its stake in Opry Entertainment Group — which also includes businesses such as Blake Shelton’s Ole Red and Luke Combs’ Category 10 —could be up for sale.

“With the rise in global popularity of country music and the increasing demand for live experiences, we have received inbound interest from a range of organizations seeking to partner with our entertainment business,” Ryman Hospitality Propertie executive chairman Colin Reed said in a statement.

Reed said Morgan Stanley is helping to evaluate “potential opportunities.”

But the company noted in the release that it has not entered into any agreements, and there is no guarantee that a sale will take place.

The Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running radio show in America, got its start in 1925. Performances were broadcast live from the Ryman Auditorium from 1943 until the Grand Ole Opry House opened in 1974.

Severe flooding following torrential rain in 2010 forced the Opry House to close for five months. While the venue was being restored, the radio show used other Nashville venues, including the Ryman.

The Opry House also had to close its doors to live audiences in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In November, 25 Opry members returned to the stage to mark the radio station’s centennial, including Vince Gill, Scotty McCreery and Dustin Lynch.

Performances at the venue typically feature eight or more artists.

The Ryman has its own unique history.

Known as the “Mother Church of Country Music,” the venue was first a religious meeting place created by Thomas Ryman, a wealthy riverboat captain who traded a life of partying for one devoted to God.

The Ryman held its first concert in 1892 and became known as the birthplace of bluegrass music.

The venue sat mostly vacant for decades after The Grand Ole Opry moved out. But it reopened in 1994 shortly after celebrating its centennial.