Bookable
A hall of fame from 1961
The Country Music Association created the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961. Its first members were Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose and Hank Williams, and in 1962 Roy Acuff became the first living member. In 1964 the state of Tennessee chartered the Country Music Foundation, the non-profit that runs the museum.


From Music Row to downtown
The first museum opened on 1 April 1967 in a barn-shaped building at the head of Music Row, where the members’ bronze plaques formed a special exhibit. In May 2001 the museum moved to a new building in downtown Nashville, and in 2014 a $100 million expansion doubled its size to 350,000 square feet.
A building that plays on music
Tuck-Hinton Architects of Nashville designed the downtown building. From the air it forms a bass clef, its front windows recall piano keys, and its tower is a replica of the diamond-shaped WSM radio tower. The four tiers of the Rotunda roof evoke the evolution of recorded sound.


