Editing Grand Ole Opry (section)

=== Return to Ryman Auditorium ===
Following the departure of the Opry, Ryman Auditorium sat mostly vacant and decaying for 20 years. An initial effort by National Life & Accident to tear down the Ryman and use its bricks to build a chapel at Opryland USA was met with resounding resistance from the public, including many influential musicians of the time. The plans were abandoned, and the building remained standing with an uncertain future. Despite the absence of performances, the building remained a tourist attraction throughout the remainder of the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="RymanDormant">{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Country Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLZz02EzmBYC&pg=PA444|date=January 4, 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-992083-9 |pages=444}}</ref>

In 1991 and 1992, [[Emmylou Harris]] performed a series of concerts there and released some of the recordings as an album entitled ''[[At the Ryman]]''. The concert and album's high acclaim renewed interest in reviving Ryman Auditorium as an active venue. Beginning in September 1993, Gaylord Entertainment initiated a full renovation of the Ryman, restoring it to a world-class concert hall that reopened with a broadcast of ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' on June 4, 1994.<ref name="RymanDormant" />

On Sunday, October 18, 1998, the Opry held a benefit show at Ryman Auditorium, marking its return to the venue for the first time since its final show on March 15, 1974.<ref name="RymanReturn">{{cite web|url=http://fayfare.blogspot.com/2010/01/grand-ole-opry-ryman-reunion.html|title=Grand Ole Opry Ryman Reunion Celebration-October 18, 1998|first=Byron|last=Fay|website=Fayfare's Opry Blog|date=January 25, 2010|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>

Beginning in November 1999, the Opry was held at Ryman Auditorium for three months, partly due to the ongoing construction of Opry Mills. The Opry returned to the Ryman for the three winter months every year until 2019–20, allowing the show to acknowledge its roots while also taking advantage of a smaller venue during an off-peak season for tourism.<ref name="RymanReturn" /> Following a [[COVID-19 pandemic]]-related hiatus after the 2020 season, the show has returned to The Ryman for shorter winter residencies since 2023. While still officially the ''Grand Ole Opry'', the shows there are billed as ''Opry at the Ryman''. From 2002 to 2014, a traveling version of the ''[[Radio City Christmas Spectacular]]'' took up residence at the Grand Ole Opry House each holiday season while the ''Opry'' was away. It was replaced by ''[[Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical]]'' from 2015 in 2017 and by [[Cirque Productions|Cirque Dreams Holidaze]] in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-grinch-to-steal-christmas-in-nashville-300083073.html|title=The Grinch to Steal Christmas in Nashville|website=[[PR Newswire]]|date=May 13, 2015|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>