There’s really no way to talk about the past six decades of music and performance without Miss Ross coming into play. She’s been an icon for long enough that the term itself seems somehow lacking, and she’s served up so many enduring and classic songs and so many staggering looks that she is simply the embodiment of the American ideal of entertainment and has been that way for generations. The Motown classics, the Larry Levan- and Michael Jackson-endorsed club jams, the torchy ballads, the killer duets, the midtempo struts that birth new generations of drag performers every time they’re played, the experiments with people like the Bee Gees, BT and Felix da Housecat. She’s got so many hits that it becomes intimidating to try to wrap your mind around it. And then you add in that one-two punch of Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany, and you realize that there’s just too much fame in this remarkable woman’s life and career to cover everything. But here’s a Ross Rewind quartet to get ready for when she takes the stage at the Opry House: 1965’s immaculate “I Hear a Symphony” with The Supremes, 1977’s disco dream “Love Hangover,” 1984’s Lina Wertmüller/Arthur Baker/Daryl Hall freakout “Swept Away,” and 1991’s power ballad/pageant winner “When You Tell Me That You Love Me.” We’re losing too many of our legends, so take that moment and bask in the enduring power of Ross.
7 p.m. at the Grand Ole Opry House
600 Opry Mills Drive
