Fort Worth: Billy Bob’s Texas

Nashville had Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Austin had the Armadillo. Fort Worth had a cattle barn — and eventually, both did better than either.

The building that became Billy Bob’s Texas started its life in 1910 as an open-air livestock facility attached to the Fort Worth Stockyards. In 1936, the City of Fort Worth enclosed it, spending $183,500 to add walls and an entrance tower. Livestock lived here until 1943, when the stock show moved to Will Rogers Memorial Complex. During World War II, the structure became an airplane factory. By the 1950s, it had converted into a department store so large that stock boys wore roller skates to get around. An unlikely origin for the World’s Largest Honky Tonk.

Billy Bob Barnett and Spencer Taylor opened Billy Bob’s Texas on April Fools’ Day, 1981, at the peak of the Urban Cowboy era. They wanted something bigger than Gilley’s — the Pasadena honky tonk that had become the archetype of the moment. What they built was something nobody had imagined: 100,000 square feet of entertainment, more than 30 bar stations, a concert stage, a dirt arena for real pro bull riding, and a dance floor that could hold 6,000 people.

Records, Legends, and One Generous Merle Haggard

The acts that followed were everything country music had to offer. In 1983, Merle Haggard stood before a crowd of 5,095 and bought every person a CC Waterback — one ounce of Canadian Club with a water chaser. The tab came to $12,737.50, and 40 gallons of whiskey later, Haggard earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest round ever purchased. George Strait starred in Pure Country here. Sylvester Stallone filmed Over the Top on the premises. Willie Nelson and Lesley Ann Warren shot Baja Oklahoma within these walls.

The Academy of Country Music has named Billy Bob’s Texas its Country Music Club of the Year 12 times — a record no other venue has come close to matching. Consequently, the Wall of Fame preserves concrete handprints from Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, and Ringo Starr, among dozens of others. The Guitar Bar displays 75 instruments autographed by artists who have performed here.

Still Going, Still Real Bulls

Billy Bob’s closed briefly in January 1988 during an economic downturn. Nevertheless, the club reopened eight months later under new ownership — Holt Hickman, Don Jury, Steve Murrin, and Billy Minick — who relaunched with Willie Nelson and never looked back. Today, pro bull riding continues every Friday and Saturday night. Real bulls, not mechanical. The Honky Tonk Kitchen serves BBQ and burgers, and the main stage hosts country’s current generation alongside its legends. Like Gruene Hall in the Hill Country, Billy Bob’s Texas has outlasted every wave of what country music decided to become next.