The Grand Ole Opry

Critical Praise

"The history is interesting, the stories entertaining and the pictures delightful. The perfect coffee table book for country music fans."
-Armchairinterviews.com

"With more than 200 photos and the running narrative of performers past and present, this sweeping history is a must for any country fan who'd like to uncover the roots, re-live the milestones and meet the stars of the world's longest-running radio show. Even if you can't pick a lick, you'll come away with a sense of what it feels like to be a part of this special, one-of-a-kind musical family that superstar Garth Brooks has called "the pinnacle of what I do."
—Neil Pond, AmericanProfile.com

"There's no telling how many Americans have tuned into the Grand Ole Opry over the years but it surely is in the millions. This show has become a uniquely American institution and anyone who counts it a favorite will love The Grand Ole Opry: The Making of an American Icon by Colin Escott with a foreword by singer Vince Gill. The performers who graced its stage in Nashville included Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, Minnie Pearl, Ernest Tubbs, and dozens of others thanks to WSM radio and a network that began to reach out coast to coast by the early 1930s. By 1947, some of its stars were playing Carnegie Hall, bringing country and western music to the East Coast. By the 1980s, stars like Reba McEntire, Lorrie Morgan, and Roy Clark were carrying on the tradition, but by then country and western was as popular as rock'n roll. This book is a trip down memory lane, filled with pictures, and a tribute to the wonderful talented people who were a part of its remarkable history."
-Bookviews.com

"Never before has an institution embodied a genre of music as does the Grand Ole Opry. For millions of country music fans, THE GRAND OLE OPRY: The Making of an American Icon is the ultimate book to own and have inside every country music lovers home."
-Realcountrymusic.org

"For over eighty years, the Grand Ole Opry has been synonymous with country music. Now the official and fully authorized story of this emblem of American culture is told, for the first time, in the words of the performers, the hosts and those who worked behind the scenes. Colin Escott is one of the world's leading experts on country music history. He cowrote and coproduced "Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues" for PBS and was a series consultant and cowriter for BBC-TVs highly acclaimed series on country music, "Lost Highway."
-Markbrine.com

"The Grand Ole Opry: The Making Of An American Icon is a book that country music lovers and historians alike can immerse themselves into. From the first page to the last, the reader will find himself or herself not wanting to put this book down. This is an incredible documentation of the history of the Grand Ole Opry."
Nashville.about.com

"What makes this new volume unique as compared to other Opry histories is that the story is told almost exclusively in the words of the performers and personalities themselves. Escott adds just enough of his own text to move the story along, but the bulk of the narrative is in the form of quotes from Opry members and employees."
-TheBluegrassblog.com

"The Opry has quite a past and, as one who has been fortunate enough to stand on that stage for more than forty-five years, I believe it also has quite a future. Escott takes us in both directions throughout these pages and, believe me, it's an incredible journey!"
—Bill Anderson, Opry Member Since 1961

"The Grand Ole Opry is the pinnacle of what I do. Nothing will ever match being a member of the Grand Ole Opry."
—Garth Brooks, Opry Member Since 1990

"You think about people like Hank Williams who stood on that spot of wood . . . And just about anybody you can think of who has made country music has been on that stage."
—Alan Jackson, Opry Member Since 1991

"Becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry is something I've wanted since I was a little girl. I never thought it would happen . . . Whenever I do the Opry it still feels like the first time. I still get nervous."
—Martina McBride, Opry Member Since 1995

"I feel this is a family here, so kinda regardless of whatever happens in your life, you always can come home to the Grand Ole Opry, thank God."
—Ronnie Milsap, Opry Member Since 1976