Alcyone Beasley

Pioneering American country music singer and musician. Born May 30, 1912. Died October 17, 1982. Alcyone was 13 when she appeared with her father Dr. Humphrey Bate's group, the Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters, on the first show broadcast by WSM radio, Oct. 25, 1925. In November of that year, WSM began the WSM Barn Dance, which eventually grew into the Grand Ole Opry. She was a regular in her father's group until he died in 1936, then she joined a former Opry act known as the Dixie Dons. She was the first woman to sing on the Grand Ole Opry, She recorded and performed with many country music greats including Ernest Tubb and Eddy Arnold. She retired from the Grand Ole Opry in 1977.