Grand Ole Opry

FT. DEPOSIT, Ala. -- Billy Walker, the Grand Ole Opry legend whose hits included "Charlie's Shoes" and "Cross the Brazos at Waco," died in a wreck yesterday along interstate in Alabama. He was 77. Mr. Walker was killed along with his wife, Bettie, and two of his band members when their van ran off Interstate 65 south of Montgomery and overturned, state troopers said. The two band members were Charles Lilly Jr., 44, of Hendersonville, Tenn., and Daniel Patton, 40, of Hermitage, Tenn.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Loretta Lynn is taking her life story to Broadway, and she has tapped film and TV actress Zooey Deschanel to play her on stage. Lynn, 80, unveiled plans for a musical adaptation of "Coal Miner's Daughter" during a Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium on Thursday night. Wearing one of her signature long sleeve, floor length dresses, the singer blew through four songs before bringing Deschanel onstage to sing the title tune. The announcement mirrored the way Lynn invited actress Spacek on the Opry stage in 1979 to reveal that Spacek would...

NASHVILLE -- Skeeter Davis, who hit the top of the pop charts with "The End of the World" in 1963 and sang on the Grand Ole Opry radio show for more than 40 years, died yesterday at a hospice of breast cancer. She was 72. Ms. Davis, nicknamed Skeeter by her grandfather who said she was so active she buzzed around like a mosquito, had toured with Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones. She became a regular on the Opry, a live radio show, in 1959, and continued to perform as late as this year.

Workers have begun stripping away history at Ryman Auditorium. A crew began gently removing the Nashville landmark's 61-year-old oak floorboards with pry bars Saturday morning. That's the first step in a two-week renovation that will leave the storied "Mother Church" of country music with a new Brazilian teak stage. "We're going to take it off with kid gloves," said Mike Bohler, senior project manager with Beech Construction Services. "We'll remove it as easy as we can and save as much as we can and try not to damage it. " The old floorboards will be taken to a new...

John Lincoln Wright brought country music to the rock clubs of Boston and Cambridge from the 1970s into the '90s, introducing audiences to honky-tonk music in performances that earned accolades during the heyday of his band, John Lincoln Wright & the Sour Mash Boys. As a songwriter, he drew inspiration from life in the Northeast, far from country music's usual wellsprings. He declined to follow the lead of acts that build a local base, then decamp to Nashville to chase stardom that might require compromises.

NASHVILLE — Mel McDaniel, a husky-voiced country music singer-songwriter with hits such as “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On’’ and “Louisiana Saturday Night,’’ has died. He was 68. Darlene Bieber of Schmidt Relations, the publicists for the Grand Ole Opry, confirmed that Mr. McDaniel had died, but had no details. Mr. McDaniel’s other hits, most in the early and mid-1980s, included “Stand Up,’’ “Big Ole Brew,’’ and “Let It Roll (Let It Rock).’’ The native of Checotah, Okla., sang for oil field workers in...

NASHVILLE - Country singer Hank Locklin, whose smooth tenor voice on hits like "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and "Please Help Me I'm Falling" marked a career that spanned half a century, has died. He was 91. Mr. Locklin died Sunday at his home in Brewton, Ala., said Jessie Schmidt, Grand Ole Opry publicist. She said the cause of death was not being released. Mr. Locklin helped usher in "the Nashville Sound" that gave country music a more lush feel. He performed on the Grand Ole Opry for 47 years.

Hank Williams III Damn Right Rebel Proud (Sidewalk) ESSENTIAL "I Wish I Knew" Needless to say, an album that includes a 10-minute ode to the deranged and pathetic G.G. Allin and an obscenity-laced rant about the Grand Ole Opry ain't your father's country music or, for that matter, the music of Hank III's iconic grandfather. But there is some fine-sounding, high-voltage country here. Hank III has again grabbed a handful of superb Nashville session pickers to wrap his words with music that ranges from the electric, Wayne Hancock-inspired hillbilly of "Wild & Free"...

NASHVILLE -- Buddy Killen, a music publisher, songwriter, and record producer who helped launch the careers of Dolly Parton and Bill Anderson, died Wednesday. He was 73. Mr. Killen, one of the most influential figures in the Nashville entertainment business, was recently diagnosed with liver and pancreatic cancer, according to his spokeswoman, Betty Hofer. In 1951, Mr. Killen joined forces with Jack Stapp, founder of Tree International, to create a music-publishing empire.

TOCCOA, Ga. -- Frankie Scott, whose entertainment career spanned nearly three decades and ranged from singing and acting to comedy and modeling, died Saturday of a stroke. She was 84. "It will be hard to go on without my Frankie but I know that she is now in a place where rosebuds will bloom forever," said her husband, country music pioneer Ramblin' "Doc" Tommy Scott. Tommy Scott was referring to his popular late-1940s hit song "Rosebuds and You," which he wrote for his wife and frequent film costar.

It's time for a new stage at Ryman Auditorium, a significant moment in the history of a building known for its significant moments. Scuffed by the heels of "The King," ''The Queen of Soul" and thousands of singers in cowboy boots, scarred by an uncountable stream of road cases and worn by six decades of music history, the Ryman's oak floorboards have reached the end of a very long, very successful run. "That stage has had a wonderful life,"...

According to singer Ward Hayden, the ultimate motivation for the tribute to Hank Williams that he and his band, Girls Guns and Glory, put on Sunday afternoon is the big influence Williams has had on their music. The more immediate reason for the tribute, however, was to mark the occasion of that icon's death 59 years ago on Jan. 1, and to celebrate the music he left behind. These sorts of affairs can go two ways: faithful reiteration of the originals, or looser versions that allow more room for interpretation.

John Lincoln Wright brought country music to the rock clubs of Boston and Cambridge from the 1970s into the '90s, introducing audiences to honky-tonk music in performances that earned accolades during the heyday of his band, John Lincoln Wright & the Sour Mash Boys. As a songwriter, he drew inspiration from life in the Northeast, far from country music's usual wellsprings. He declined to follow the lead of acts that build a local base, then decamp to Nashville to chase stardom that might require compromises.

NEW YORK - Johnnie Wright, a singer and bandleader who was among the first country musicians to use Latin rhythms, died Tuesday at his home in Madison, Tenn. He was 97. His death was confirmed by his daughter, Carol Sue Wright Sturdivant. Mr. Wright and Jack Anglin, as Johnnie and Jack, placed 15 records in the country top 20 from 1951 to 1962. The most successful were remakes of doo-wop hits by the Four Knights and the Spaniels, including the Four Knights' "(Oh, Baby Mine)

Country music super group Rascal Flatts is the latest member of the Grand Ole Opry. The trio was surprised with the news Tuesday night during their performance on the Opry. Twenty-year Opry member Vince Gill made an unscheduled appearance, interrupting singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney mid-performance. After starting with a joke about an unpaid golf debt, Gill extended an invitation to join the Opry. The men had tears in their eyes and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

Carrie Underwood turned in one of the most-talked about performances with Steven Tyler at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards. Three months later, though, it was another performance that night in Las Vegas that was on her mind. Underwood met with participants in the ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp this week. Developmentally disabled campers who attended the session last year joined Darius Rucker on stage during the awards telecast in April, an emotional highlight on a night with a lot of strong performances.

Where to eat Monell's 1235 6th Ave. North 615-248-4747 monellsdining.citysearch.com Moderately price d Southern comfort food served in communal fashion. Lunch 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; country breakfast Saturday 8:30-1 and Sunday 8:30-11 ; Sunday meal 11-4. No dinner Dec. 1-23 because of Christmas celebrations. What to do Ryman Auditorium 116 5th Ave. North 615-889-3060 ryman.com History is in the air at the Ryman, former home of the Grand Ole Opry, which still hosts an eclectic roster of events.

Country music super group Rascal Flatts is the latest member of the Grand Ole Opry. The trio was surprised with the news Tuesday night during their performance on the Opry. Twenty-year Opry member Vince Gill made an unscheduled appearance, interrupting singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney mid-performance. After starting with a joke about an unpaid golf debt, Gill extended an invitation to join the Opry. The men had tears in their eyes and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

NASHVILLE — Mel McDaniel, a husky-voiced country music singer-songwriter with hits such as “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On’’ and “Louisiana Saturday Night,’’ has died. He was 68. Darlene Bieber of Schmidt Relations, the publicists for the Grand Ole Opry, confirmed that Mr. McDaniel had died, but had no details. Mr. McDaniel’s other hits, most in the early and mid-1980s, included “Stand Up,’’ “Big Ole Brew,’’ and “Let It Roll (Let It Rock).’’ The native of Checotah, Okla., sang for oil field workers in Alaska in the 1970s before becoming...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Country music singer Doc Williams became a big star in small places through the power of radio. In the years before World War II, his Wheeling, W.Va.-based radio show built him a following in Maine, Vermont, and the Canadian provinces — places where he later toured, and where some fans still tap in time to songs from his band, the Border Riders. Mr. Williams died Monday at his Wheeling home at age 96. “I don’t know if the state of West Virginia had a better ambassador than Doc Williams,’’ Country Music Hall of Famer...