Billy Bob’s

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll scoot our boots in the world’s biggest honky-tonk.

On April 1, 1981, Billy Bob’s Texas opened in Fort Worth. Billy Bob Barnett and Spencer Taylor built the dance hall out of a 10,000 square-foot cattle barn in the city’s famed Stockyards district. Billed as the “world’s largest honky-tonk,” it soon became one of the most popular music venues in the state. Billy Bob’s has hosted a number of country music icons, including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, and George Strait. The club also has helped foster new talent, with such younger artists as Rick Treviño, the Randy Rogers Band, and Mickey and the Motorcars.

Billy Bob’s Texas, which hold as many as 6,000 people, includes a large dance floor and an arena that features live bull-riding.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a rockabilly singer who always had a dollar to his name.

 

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