The Grand Ole Opry will celebrate 100 years of music history tonight with a three-hour special airing live on NBC.

Why it matters: The Opry is one of the most famous stages in the world. Over the course of a century, it has been the ultimate proving ground for generations of country stars who went on to become household names.

• Producers, who have been working on the anniversary show for about a year, tell Axios the special will pay homage to that history with an assist from dozens of the genre's biggest stars.

What they're saying: "It is really the royalty of country music that's showing up," producer Mark Bracco says.

• "We're kind of blown away. It's exceeded even our greatest expectations of what this three hours could be."

Zoom in: Bracco and fellow producer Linda Gierahn say artists were eager to pay tribute to country trailblazers. They picked the classic songs they would sing based on their emotional connection to the music.

• Ashley McBride and Jelly Roll will commemorate Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will sing duets made famous by George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
• Carrie Underwood will sing for Randy Travis. Keith Urban will perform the Crystal Gale classic "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue." Reba McEntire will perform a medley of Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn classics.
• Post Malone will pair up with Travis Tritt for a cover of "T.R.O.U.B.L.E."

State of play: That's just a sample. The full special will include more than 20 performances and nearly 50 Grand Ole Opry members.

• "There's not a ton of talking in the show," Bracco joked. "It's wall-to-wall music."
• Performers will take the stage at the Opry House and the Ryman Auditorium, the Opry's former home.

The big picture: The Grand Ole Opry is the oldest radio program still in existence in the United States.

• WSM has broadcast the show from Nashville since Nov. 28, 1925. The Opry is planning a full year of celebratory events to mark the anniversary.

How to watch: The primetime special begins at 7pm on NBC with Blake Shelton as host. It will also stream live on Peacock.

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's administration is pondering the possibility of conducting property reappraisals every other year instead of the traditional every four years.

Why it matters: Appraising property more frequently would help the city make more accurate revenue projections and capture the considerable development growth in Davidson County quicker.

• Every-other-year reappraisals could also mean more frequent, if smaller, tax increases for property owners. Nashville has one of the lowest effective property tax rates for major cities, according to a 2023 analysis.

State of play: The property reappraisal process, led by Assessor of Property Vivian Wilhoite, is underway. Wilhoite's team will soon reveal how much property values have gone up since 2021.

Driving the news: State comptroller Jason Mumpower has been stumping for counties to conduct more frequent reappraisals, and several governments have taken his advice.

• Knox, Sullivan, Blount and Hardeman counties are among those that have decided to hold appraisals more often.
• "More frequent revaluation is a modern approach that ensures a fair and equitable system for all taxpayers," Mumpower said in a statement to Axios.
• "Taxpayers will be confident in a system that is more predictable and accurate. Local governments will also have a more predictable revenue stream that isn't subject to adjustments created by the sales ratio."

Read the full story, including details on how Nashville has rarely raised property taxes in the 21st century

Metro legal director Wally Dietz is recovering from a stroke. (Nashville Banner)

✅ The legislature is advancing a constitutional amendment that would allow judges to strip the right to bail for people charged with some felonies. The plan would be on a future statewide ballot for voters to approve. (Tennessee Lookout)

🏢 With its East Bank campus still in the works, tech firm Oracle is expanding to another downtown office tower. (Nashville Business Journal, subscription)

Recorded music surged to $17.7 billion in revenue last year, fueled by a boom in listeners subscribing to on-demand streaming services.

Why it matters: Streaming now accounts for 84% of U.S. recorded music revenue, according to the annual year-end revenue report released yesterday by the Recording Industry Association of America.

By the numbers: Streaming accounted for $14.9 billion of the total revenue.

• The music industry, which two decades ago was reluctant to embrace streaming at the expense of CD sales, eclipsed 100 million paid subscribers to on-demand streaming services.
• That's up from 75.5 million in 2020.

Yes, but: Physical sales are growing too, thanks to vinyl record fans, reaching $2 billion last year.

• Vinyl sales accounted for $1.4 billion, which was a 7% increase over the year before.

Share this story ... Read the full RIAA report

NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams finally returned to Earth last night after nine months in space.

🚀 Catch up quick: Wilmore, a Mt. Juliet native, reached the International Space Station with Williams in June 2024 during a crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.

• Starliner was deemed unfit to return the pair safely after suffering technical glitches. That prolonged their journey, which was originally supposed to last a week.

The astronauts were sometimes described as "stuck" on the station — but they took their unexpected adventure in stride, helping with research and other station duties.

🪂 State of play: Williams and Wilmore splashed down aboard a SpaceX craft near Florida just before 5pm.

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