Manning had a more than 50-year career as a player, producer, composer and, perhaps most prominently, recording engineer.

For now, the Dollywood Foundation owns the former Pancho’s site in West Memphis, but if all goes according to plan, the site will be sold this summer with the proceeds going to the Foundation.

The upcoming 2025-2026 season also includes a celebration of the U.S.’ 250th birthday and a collaboration with Opera Memphis.

The new pass is now available at Memphis libraries and community centers. It provides elementary students and their families free access to performances and events hosted by more than 30 local arts organizations.

The Orpheum announced a new Broadway season, including a new musical that flips the script on Shakespeare’s tragic “Romeo & Juliet,” asking — what if Juliet didn’t die? 

While in Nashville asking the Legislature for support for the Rock ’n‘ Soul Museum, Priscilla Presley was given the highest civilian award Tennessee can bestow.

Being prepared was the theme of the day at the Women in the Arts event, which was held Saturday at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, and at Theatre Memphis.

More acts scheduled for the 2025-2026 season include Sutton Foster, Yonder Mountain String Band, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kandace Springs, and The Hot Sardines.

A gathering at Minglewood Hall drew more than 100 people in the first session to gauge reaction to a new report on the Memphis music ecosystem.

Independent record label Light in the Attic Records, which sells directly to hundreds of record stores and retailers worldwide, is set to open a warehouse facility in Memphis.

Cost estimates total about $88 million, up from an estimate of about $84 million a year ago. It’s the first major expansion since the venue opened in 2000.

“This project is a reflection of that shared experience — two cities with so much talent and so much to say. ... Memphis and St. Louis are both places where success doesn’t come easy, but that’s exactly why it’s so worth it.”

In March, musicians performing locally are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, Hollywood Walk of Fame and have earned Tiny Desk Contest, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Juno Award wins.

Sound Diplomacy counts 1,148 “music-related assets” in Memphis and within a 5½-mile buffer outside the city. The organization also made recommendations for how to grow the Memphis music industry.

Satellite Music Hall, slated to open in fall 2026, will host concerts, comedy shows, community gatherings and more.

The Recording Academy also recently announced that Cordova High School choral director Adrian L. Maclin was selected to receive the organization’s 2025 Music Educator of the Year award.

Also this month, two venues showcase local Americana and R&B musicians in new series and Stax Music Academy’s annual Black History Month show features Ant Clemons, Evvie McKinney and Corey Lou & DaVillage.

The three-day festival was “paused” in 2024, Memphis in May officials said at the time, largely due to issues regarding the reconfigured Tom Lee Park that led to a less-than-successful 2023 installment of the event.

Several acts either were nominated for and/or performed at the 2025 Grammy Awards, including Khruangbin and Benson Boone.

The venue’s outdoor space overlooks the Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid and the Mississippi River. 

Kirk Whalum was stunned to receive a call from Cheryl McNair, the widow of astronaut Ron McNair who was killed in the Challenger disaster. The favor she asked of him still affects him today.

Several suburban officials have found a way to escape the pressures of day-to-day government by taking to the stage to perform.

“Life’s a gift, open it,” says Slowdown Dry Goods founder Eli Berry, who recently released a merch line for Grammy-winning artists Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.