It was October 1925 that the first program of what would become 'The Grand Ole Opry' was broadcast over National Life & Accident Insurance Company's new radio station, WSM.

You can trace your way back to the date, November 28, 1925 as the actual date that the Opry was born. Legend has it that the featured performer that night was Uncle Jimmy Thompson, an 80-year-old fiddler had played an hour of uninterrupted fiddle music on the radio. George Hay, the "Solemn Old Judge" was the announcer for the WSM program. The next Saturday night he was overwhelmed with requests from other fiddle players, banjo pickers and guitar players who wanted to join the show and take their turn playing what was referred to at the time as "barn dance music."

The formal debut of the show took place on December 26, 1925, and then had the name WSM's Barn Dance. And that was what the show was called until three years later, when after ending a network feed that featured classical music, George Hay uttered the famous quote, "Friends, for the past hour you've been listening to Grand Opry, but for the next hour we'll be listening to Grand Ole Opry!" The name stuck, and the show was from then on called the "Grand Ole Opry."

On the weekend of October 13th and 14th, the Opry will celebrate its 75th Anniversary with a multitude of country artists paying tribute to what is commonly known as the Mother Church of Country Music. The weekend will include a series of five Opry performances, a bluegrass celebration, tours of backstage, and Opry Plaza activities. The highlight of the weekend will be the red carpet arrival prior to Saturday's 6:30 pm show.

Opry Members that are participating in the birthday weekend feature Porter Wagoner, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Garth Brooks, Hal Ketchum, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Diamond Rio, Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Dickens, Ronnie Milsap, Pam Tillis, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton and others.

This year the Opry kicked off its celebration with a brand new set on June 10th. Also this year was the first that the show was available online via Internet streaming. You can listen to the show on Friday and Saturday nights at WSM AM Radio.

If that weren't enough, CBS will broadcast the 75th Anniversary Special on November 23rd at 9pm ET/PT hosted by Vince Gill and Dolly Parton. The stars that will join them on the two-hour long show include: Bill Anderson, Garth Brooks, Little Jimmy Dickens, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Porter Wagoner and Trisha Yearwood, among others.