Country Music Hall of Fame

Are you a country music fan? Do you love to not only listen to your favorite stars, but also to learn more about them? Are you going to be in Nashville, Tennessee anytime in the near future? Do you still remember stars of the past, such as Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn? If you could answer yes to all of these questions, make sure you visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, 222 Fifth Avenue South, during your stay in Nashville.

In 1961 the Country Music Association announced plans for the creation of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. In November of the same year the Country Music Association announced the first three inductees would be Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Fred Rose. Bronze plaques, with a facial likeness and a thumbnail biography of each inductee were cast. Ernest Tubb unveiled the plaques at the Grand Ole Opry. Those plaques and subsequent plaques for new inductees were displayed in the Tennessee State Museum until 1967.

The Country Music Association (CMA) in 1963 announced the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum would be built on Music Row in Nashville. The Country Music Foundation was charted as a nonprofit education foundation to operate the museum.

In 1967 the original Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opened April 1 on Music Row. Operations included educational programs, the CMA Press and CMA Records, the Country Music Foundation Library (which opened in 1968), and historic sites, RCA Studio B (added in 1977) and Hatch Show Print (1986). That building was later razed. It is now a private parking lot for employees of the music licensing firm BMI. Before they became major country stars, Trisha Yearwood and Kathy Mattea acted as tour guides for the original museum.