The Longhorn Ballroom in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

). has been called, Texas' Most Historic Music Venue and since its inception has had a colorful set of proprietors. Originally built by O.L. Nelms, an eccentric Dallas millionaire, for his close friend,

western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

bandleader

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

, the venue opened in 1950 as

Ranch House Ranch (also known as American ranch, California ranch, rambler, or rancher) is a domestic architectural style that originated in the United States. The ranch-style house is noted for its long, close-to-the-ground profile, and wide open layout. ...

. When Wills left In the early 50's Nelms leased the sprawling venue to notorious nightclub owner turned assassin Jack Ruby. Mr. Ruby eventually had a nervous breakdown and lost the lease, but he is credited with hosting some of the best black entertainers of the day including

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, Ruth Brown, and

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

. The Nat King-Cole show took place in 1954 in the racially segregated Jim Crow South, where an affluent black audience sat in front, in the premium seats, while the white patrons stood in the back to listen to the legend. In 1957, the venue was divided into two separate performance areas by a single wall. One area, named the “Guthrey Club” featured

Rhythm and Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

artists such as Little Richard,

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

, Bo Diddly, and Roy Orbison, while the bigger ballroom focused on

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. In 1958, O.L. Nelms sold the property to his close friend and business partner Dewey Groom who renamed the venue The Longhorn Ballroom. Groom, who was also a recording artist, and record label owner, successfully ran the ballroom for more than 25 years, adding the iconic Longhorn Ballroom marquee. In 2022, Groom was honored posthumously with the Pioneer award by the

Texas Country Music Hall of Fame The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, located in Carthage in Panola County in East Texas, honors those who have made outstanding contributions to country music and were born in the state of Texas. This includes singers, songwriters, disc jocke ...

. The venue hosted a wide variety of acts from country legends such as,

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

, Johnny Cash,

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Rec ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

, Ray Price, Conway Twitty,

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

, Hank Thompson,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

and

Patsy Montana Rubye Rose Blevins (October 30, 1908 – May 3, 1996), known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer, songwriter and actress. Montana was the first female country performer to have a million-selling single with her ...

. But also

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs o ...

, Al Green, and James Brown are just a few of the great soul and blues acts who played the Longhorn Ballroom stage on Monday Service Industry Nights at the venue. Longhorn Sign Pistols Merle Haggard

On January 10, 1978 it achieved brief infamy in international music circles when the Sex Pistols appeared there and during their performance taunted the audience, resulting in someone throwing a beer bottle and breaking

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

's nose, and he continued to play with blood running down his chest. Before the Sex Pistols, the venue hosted mainly country music artists including

, Ray Price, Conway Twitty,

, Hank Thompson,

and

. A famous photo that often circulates on the internet shows the venue's marquee advertising both the Sex Pistols concert and a

concert the following night. The

concert album, "The Longhorn Recordings" featuring the music of

and his steel guitar player Gene Crownover was recorded in the early Sixties at Longhorn Ballroom. One of the two music videos for Aerosmith's 1989 single " What It Takes" was filmed at the Longhorn Ballroom. The Longhorn Ballroom returned to brief infamy in 1990, when

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luke Campbell, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and ...

refused to go on stage for a scheduled show, resulting in fights among their fans and police. Dallas soul stalwart

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor ...

released a live video filmed at the Longhorn in 1997. Bobby Patterson, who claims in the introduction to his KKDA radio show to be "able to leap the Longhorn Ballroom in a single bound," recorded a live album there in 2002. From October 1996 to February 2017 it was owned and operated by Raul and Rosalinda Ramirez who also operated the restaurant Raul's Corral Mexican Restaurant adjacent to the ballroom. In 2017, restorations were made to the historic venue and it reopened for a time as a special events venue then closed in 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Longhorn Ballroom was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2022 and is currently in the process of becoming an official landmark with the Texas Historic Commission as well as the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The venue reopened March 30, 2023 with Asleep at the Wheel. In attendance for the reopening were the Ramirez’s as well as the families of Dewey Groom and

. On March 31, 2023, the venue hosted

Old Crow Medicine Show Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, '' Remedy'', released in 2014, won the ...

, with a guest appearance by

Robert Earl Keen Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's ''No Kinda Dancer'', the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs ha ...

. On April 1, 2023, Morgan Wade and Lucero played the newly reopened stage.

References

* Noel E. Monk: ''12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America'', HarperCollins (1992) Google books
/small> * Loretta Lynn, with Patsi Bale Cox: ''Still Woman Enough: A Memoir'', Hyperion (2002) Google books
/small> * Patsy Montana, Jane C. Frost: ''Patsy Montana: The Cowboy's Sweetheart'', McFarland & Company (2002) Google books
/small> {{coord, 32.7598, -96.7926, type:landmark_region:US-TX, display=title Music venues in Dallas