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The Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas (USA). has been called, Texas' Most Historic Music Venue and since its inception has had a colorful set of proprietors. Originally built by O.L. Nelms, an eccentric Dallas millionaire, for his close friend, western swing bandleader Bob Wills, the venue opened in 1950 as Bob Wills' Ranch House. When Wills left In the early 50's Nelms leased the sprawling venue to notorious nightclub owner turned assassin Jack Ruby. Although Mr. Ruby's tenure was short lived, he left an indelible mark as he is credited with hosting some of the best African American entertainers of the day including Count Basie, Ruth Brown, and Nat King Cole. The Nat King-Cole show took place in 1954 in the racially segregated Jim Crow South, where an affluent black audience sat in front, in the premium seats, while the white patrons stood in the back to listen to the legend. O.L. Nelms then sold the property to his close friend and business partner Dewey Groom. On January 10, 1978 it achieved brief infamy in national music circles when the Sex Pistols appeared there and during their performance taunted the audience, resulting in someone throwing a beer bottle and breaking Sid Vicious's nose, and he continued to play with blood running down his chest. Before the Sex Pistols, the venue hosted mainly country music artists including Charley Pride, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Ray Price, Conway Twitty, Bob Wills, Loretta Lynn, Hank Thompson, Willie Nelson and Patsy Montana. A famous photo that often circulates on the internet shows the venue's marquee advertising both the Sex Pistols concert and a Merle Haggard concert the following night. The Bob Wills concert album, "The Longhorn Recordings" featuring the music of Bob Wills and his steel guitar player Gene Crownover was recorded in the early Sixties at Longhorn Ballroom. One of the two music videos for Aerosmith's 1989 single "What It Takes" was filmed at the Longhorn Ballroom. The Longhorn Ballroom returned to brief infamy in 1991, when 2 Live Crew refused to go on stage for a scheduled show, resulting in fights among their fans and police. Dallas soul stalwart Johnnie Taylor released a live video filmed at the Longhorn in 1997. Bobby Patterson, who claims in the introduction to his KKDA radio show to be "able to leap the Longhorn Ballroom in a single bound," recorded a live album there in 2002. From October 1996 to February 2017 it was owned and operated by Raul Ramirez who also operates the restaurant Raul's Corral Mexican Restaurant adjacent to the ballroom. In 2017, restorations were made to the historic venue. The ballroom became a 23,000 square feet indoor-outdoor space that could be configured to host a variety of events and group sizes up to 2,550 indoors and over 5,000 outdoors in the Longhorn Park on the Trinity River. The Longhorn Ballroom has been temporarily closed since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From Wikipedia
