The Oak Ridge Boys are returning to the city behind their name

The Oak Ridge Boys are coming back to Oak Ridge, where the original quartet got its start.

Officials with the city and Explore Oak Ridge, which promotes tourism for the Secret City, have announced country music's award-winning Oak Ridge Boys will come to Oak Ridge on Nov. 20. They'll be honored by the city of Oak Ridge and the Tennessee Department of Tourism with a "Tennessee Music Pathways" marker.

The public event is set for 3 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Historic Grove Theater. Only two of the "Boys" will be attending the Oak Ridge event: William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban.

The Grove was the place where the original Oak Ridge Boys got their start. A country, comedy and gospel music group called Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers performed in 1943 at the Grove Theater. They would be allowed to enter the Manhattan Project city on Saturdays to perform in the morning for kids and in the evening for adults.

The group was eventually invited to perform at the Ryman Theater and moved to Nashville in 1947, according to the Explore Oak Ridge announcement. The group started "All Night Singings" at the Ryman in 1948 and changed their name to the Oak Ridge Quartet. The name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys when they developed a broader sound.

There's more to the Oak Ridge Boys story than that short synopsis. City Historian D. Ray Smith, the man behind The Oak Ridger's weekly "Historically Speaking" column, wrote a much more in-depth history of the Oak Ridge Boys in February 2007, prior to their performance at that year's Secret City Festival in June. A road that runs just north of the Civic Center was also named Oak Ridge Boys Way while they were here in 2007.

The current Oak Ridge Boys - Richard Sterban, Joe Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden - are currently on their 50th anniversary "American Made: Farewell Tour."

An Oak Ridge Boys marker adding Oak Ridge to the "Tennessee Music Pathways" - which chronicles the state's music heritage - will be placed. The "Tennessee Music Pathways" is also an online planning guide for tourists.

A marker was placed in Rocky Top in September to mark the town as the homeplace of famed songwriter Dean Dillon, the man behind hit songs by George Strait and many other country music stars. Dillon - then named Larry Dean Rutherford - attended Oak Ridge High School his senior year, graduated in 1973, and headed to Nashville.

The Oak Ridge Boys have won five Grammy Awards, nine Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and two American Music Awards. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015 and have been members of the Grand Ole Opry since 2011. They've had more than 30 Top 10 hits, including No. 1 songs, “Elvira,” “Bobbie Sue,” “American Made,” and the “Y’All Come Back Saloon."

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

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This article originally appeared on Oakridger: The Oak Ridge Boys are returning to the city behind their name