Lawrence.com

Nashville, Tenn. — Country music stars and hundreds of fans rose to their feet to sing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" Thursday at the grand opening of a $37 million museum celebrating Nashville's most famous export.

Ricky Skaggs, Charley Pride, Trisha Yearwood, Kathy Mattea, Eddy Arnold and Martina McBride were among the dozens of stars on hand for the outdoor ceremony in front of the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

"Country music is a holy music," exclaimed singer Marty Stuart, a memorabilia collector who has his own exhibit in the museum. "It's God-ordained. It's God-called."

Stuart led "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" playing the guitar of country music pioneer Mother Maybelle Carter. The instrument will be among the museum's thousands of artifacts.

Other performances for the people gathered in a plaza in front of the new museum included Mattea's rendition of a Hank Williams' "House of Gold"; George Jones and Vestal Goodman singing "Amazing Grace" and bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs picking "Foggy Mountain Breakdown."

Country music stars arrived in caravans from three starting points: the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium and the old Hall of Fame building.

The new building in downtown Nashville replaces a much smaller one about a mile away that was closed last year after 33 years. It's part of a downtown Nashville resurgence that includes a new art museum, football stadium, hockey arena and library.

On the outside, the hall looks at different points like a water tower, a piano or a country church. From the air, one section looks like a pile of stacked records.

Among the things on display in the hall's 40,000 square feet of exhibit space: numerous guitars and stage outfits, Merle Haggard's pardon on burglary and escape convictions signed by then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972, a gold Cadillac owned by Elvis Presley and overalls worn by Junior Samples on the TV show "Hee Haw."

Every country gold or platinum record ever awarded � about 900 � will be displayed, too.

"The Hall of Fame is much more than these fantastic artifacts like Patsy Montana's boots � which I covet so much, except that my feet are too big," Emmylou Harris joked. "But really it is the music itself being preserved by passionate musicologists that continue to keep the music for the whole world."