“Whisperin’ Bill” Anderson and longtime Grand Ole Opry colleagues Jeannie Seely, E. W. “Bud” Wendell, and Mark Wills will come together for an intimate conversation about the Opry and Anderson’s long, storied association with the show. As of July 2023, Bill Anderson has the longest tenure of any cast member in the Grand Ole Opry’s history—sixty-two years. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame since 2001, he has had more than eighty hit singles on the country charts as a recording artist and has written hits for a wide range of artists, including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, the Louvin Brothers, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Connie Smith, and George Strait. Jeannie Seely, who has been with the Opry fifty-six years, is a Grammy-winning artist with more than two dozen chart hits and hosts Sundays with Seely on SiriusXM radio. E. W. “Bud” Wendell, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame since 1998, served as the Grand Ole Opry’s manager from 1968 to 1974 and later as CEO of the radio station WSM and then Gaylord Entertainment. Mark Wills earned his first #1 hit in 1999 with a Bill Anderson song (“Wish You Were Here”) and has been an Opry cast member since 2019. The Museum’s Paul Kingsbury will host this program. Offered in support of the exhibition Bill Anderson: As Far as I Can See. Ford Theater. Included with Museum admission. Program ticket required. Free to Museum members.