Oak Ridge Boys celebrate Christmas with first-ever Ryman headlining performance

In their final year of maintaining a constant touring schedule, Country Music Hall of Famers the Oak Ridge Boys performed their first headlining set ever -- during their 34th annual Christmas concert tour -- at downtown Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Tuesday evening.

Denying the quartet's average age of 80, the group, which for five of the nearly eight decades of their existence has been comprised of Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban, delivered a strong, 22-song set of holiday favorites and the group's classic tunes including "American Made," "Elvira" and "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight."

Five decades later, how does an act like the Oak Ridge Boys finally headline at The Ryman?

The Oak Ridge Boys never headlining at country music's 131-year-old Mother Church isn't shocking. The group's predecessor act, Wally Fowler and The Oak Ridge Quintet became Grand Ole Opry members in 1945, as the show had just begun its era of broadcasting from Lower Broadway. The original quartet parted ways in 1949 and would feature Fowler paired with the former Calvary Quartet through 1957.

However, by the time the Oak Ridge Boys, as presently constituted, were an official act, the Ryman, then roughly 75 years old, had begun to deteriorate structurally and acts were not as keen on playing the venue.

Already lacking air conditioning and being located in the middle of downtown Nashville during the area's economic decline, by 1970, venue owners WSM stated the company intended to demolish the Ryman Auditorium.

Between 1970 and The Ryman's dormancy and the completion of the venue's renovation in 1993, the Oak Ridge Boys achieved eight GMA Dove Award wins, five Grammy Awards, four Country Music Association Awards and two Academy of Country Music Award victories.

That success developed a schedule for the act that, even through the pre-COVID-19 quarantine era, saw them on the road for nearly 200 performances yearly.

The act has easily played over 10,000 concerts in their time together.

In an extended conversation with The Tennessean, Joe Bonsall highlights countless venues among the 250 amphitheaters, arenas, stadiums and theaters worldwide that the Oak Ridge Boys played in their careers that are no longer standing.

Perhaps more impressive than anything is that The Ryman remained standing on John Lewis Way long enough to welcome the foursome to its stage.

The Christmas season delivers beloved, timeless performances

Bonsall notes the show was borne of Kenny Rogers wanting to pair his talents with The Oak Ridge Boys and "Class of 1989" upstart Garth Brooks for a dozen Christmas concerts in 1989 that culminated at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheater.

At the time, the Oak Ridge Boys had only released two Christmas-themed albums: 1982's gold-certified "Christmas" and 1986's "Christmas Again."

The success spawned an Oak Ridge Boys Christmas release once roughly every five years, now totaling eight over the past four decades.

"For [The Oak Ridge Boys], Christmas is a special season that we've touched every aspect of in our careers. Some of the sweetest songs in our catalog that our fans have loved for years are about the season."

While onstage at The Ryman, the group's ability to infuse pop sensibilities into Christmas classics like "Jingle Bells" and "Let It Snow" is as notable as how Sterban adds flair from years as a member of The Stamps Quartet and performing with Elvis Presley before becoming an Oak Ridge Boy to "Blue Christmas," or how the group adds a knowing wink to the cheeky flavor of country seasonal favorites like "Christmas Cookies."

In a season where Brenda Lee has achieved chart-topping stardom at 79 years of age with "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," the timeless importance of delivering Christmas-themed material highlighting the peak of one's abilities is noteworthy.

"Elvira" and the act still "looking good and singing good"

"We're still looking good and singing good," Bonsall says.

Yes, Bonsall's still pushing for hip fashion statements while Duane Allen maintains his GQ-style suits. Richard Sterban delivers an inimitable baritone with either an appeal to his Elvis-era work or as a Nashville everyman supporting the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team. And yes, William Lee Golden is now white-haired but still an epically-bearded, long-haired man sporting a sturdy-brimmed cowboy hat.

Insofar as feeling good, that's part of the issue regarding slowing their schedule. In June 2022, Bonsall suffered a pulmonary embolism. The blood clots affected his legs and he now performs from a stool.

The ability to sing songs that have held up over time because of their solid crafting and still-rabid responses from live audiences have kept the Oak Ridge Boys returning to the stage as their septuagenarian era turns into an octogenarian one.

"Hearing multigenerational crowds singsong back to us like 'American Made' and 'Elvira' is an amazing phenomenon," Bonsall continues.

Insofar as "Elvira," Oklahoma-born and Bakersfield, California-raised Dallas Frazier -- who wrote the Hollywood Argyles' 1957-released baritone and bass-heavy doo-wop hit "Alley Oop -- relocated to Nashville a decade later and wrote a song that for the Oak Ridge Boys, became a signature, platinum-selling No. 1 crossover hit in 1981.

"The song has a feeling, life and memory that marks so many unique spaces, stories and times -- from hearing it on the radio for the first time or seeing us onstage with Kenny Rogers, so many memories -- for our fanbase," Bonsall says.

"['Elvira'] was the most magical thing that ever happened in our careers. People still stand up when we sing it like they're hearing the 'Hallelujah' chorus."

"The place to be for five decades"

When asked to summarize what has allowed the act to remain vital to country music's culture and pop music's history, Bonsall believes that the level of professionalism required to let the impact of their catalog of music and the value of their years of friendship supersede anything else impacting their unit is essential.

"The Oak Ridge Boys have represented the place to be for five decades. Four guys who looked like they shouldn't even know each other have blended harmonies and had a celebrated career."

When asked about the notion that the group could fully retire after slowing touring, Bonsall laughs and mentions how Brooks and Dunn and George Strait have attempted similar career abbreviations.

Yet, those acts, like The Oak Ridge Boys, paused, thought wiser of their decision and continued to tour.

"Nobody has ever put a final date on saying farewell to the stage. As long as there's a crowd, we'll always be singing.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Oak Ridge Boys celebrate Christmas with first-ever Ryman headlining performance