Ray Stevens announces his final run of shows at his own CabaRay Showroom, located in West Nashville. The singer, who will turn 85 later this month, will kick off his last season of shows on March 16, with his final performance scheduled in December.
“I plan to stop performing regularly at my CabaRay Showroom here in Nashville at the end of 2024, but I’ll be going to work everyday in my recording studio and maybe I’ll do a few, a very few, shows in some old familiar places,” Stevens shares. “I’m definitely slowing down but I haven’t come to a complete stop. Not yet, anyway!”
For Stevens, CabaRay was for him the best of both worlds. The venue gave him the ability to perform without having to travel the world, a win-win for him at this point in his life and career.
“I’ve always been in the music business, since I was 15 years old, and I’ve traveled all over the world, played shows, written, and recorded a lot of successful records. And so I was tired…” Stevens told The Tennessean. “The reason I built the CabaRay was I was just tired of the road, tired of traveling or having to get on a plane or bus to go where I needed to perform. And so I built the CabaRay!”
CabaRay, which opened in 2018, offers a dinner theater atmosphere, as Ray tributes some of music’s most iconic and influential artists.
Ray was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2022. The Georgia native, is known for songs like “Everything Is Beautiful” and “Misty,” along with humorous tunes such as “Mississippi Squirrel Revival” and of course, “The Streak, with a career that spans six decades.
In 2019, Stevens was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“When word got out that I was going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, people would come to me and say, ‘Well, it’s about time,’” Stevens said as part of his heartfelt acceptance speech (via The Tennessean). “I’d say, ‘Anytime is a good time to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s a long way from a sock hop in a South Georgia high school gym where I played piano with a little four-piece band to this place here tonight.
“A lot of folks in this room have been there … that’s part of the life we’ve chosen,” he added. “But nobody chooses to be up here. We can dream about it, but we can’t plan on it or choose it. We have to be chosen. Let me say how sweet it is to be chosen to be here tonight.”
Ahead of the official opening of Stevens’ final season at CabaRay, he will perform a special show on Valentine’s Day. Find more information on all of his upcoming shows, and purchase tickets for all of his performances, at RayStevensCabaRay.com.