Country Music Hall of Fame breaks attendance record in 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said nearly 1.3 million people visited the Nashville, Tennessee, museum last year, breaking an annual attendance record.

The downtown museum, which expanded in 2014, has welcomed more than a million people each year for five consecutive years and saw its largest ever annual attendance last year.

The expansion allowed for more exhibit space, archival storage, educational classrooms and special event space, including two theaters and the Taylor Swift Education Center. The building also houses the Country Music Hall of Fame rotunda where the names of country music's founding musicians are listed on plaques.

In addition to its permanent exhibit, the museum featured temporary exhibits last year about outlaw country music, Kacey Musgraves, Brooks & Dunn and Keith Whitley.

In 2020, new exhibits about Chris Stapleton, Martina McBride and Bill Anderson will be on display.