Austin City Limits is celebrating five decades of music with a star-studded lineup of performances for its 50th season.

The "longest-running music program in television history" will return on Saturday, Sept. 28 with seven-time Grammy-winning artist Kacey Musgraves, before Gary Clark Jr. and the Black Pumas officially kick off the landmark season on Oct. 5.

Each week the series will feature monumental performances from Chris Stapleton, Juanes, Brittany Howard, Nickel Creek, Maggie Rogers and The War and Treaty.

Garth Brooks was also inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame — that special moment will air this season, as well.

Others who are scheduled for the upcoming season: Jelly Roll, Gracie Abrams and Jacob Collier — all of whom are making their ACL debut.

When Did Austin City Limits Premiere?

For 50 years, Austin City Limits has been giving fans a front row seat to some of the most talented musical acts in the nation. The series showcases iconic performances in addition to an inside look into the music led by the artists themselves.

The pilot episode of ACL was taped on Oct. 17, 1974. A 41-year-old Willie Nelson was at the helm of the first episode, which was very raw in nature when it came to production value. For example, there is a full soundcheck of the entire band during the opening credits. This approach would serve the series well when it was time to take the show to television.

How Can Fans Watch Austin City Limits?

Austin City Limits is filmed in its home studio, ACL Live, in Austin, Texas, and is produced by Austin PBS. Fans can watch tapings on their local PBS stations on Saturdays at 8PM ET. Full episodes are available to stream at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the television broadcast.

20 Songs Garth Brooks Has Played Live the Most Times

Garth Brooks has been filling the biggest arenas in the U.S. and the world since he launched his country career in 1989. There are 20 songs that have emerged as fan favorites, and Brooks has played some of them hundreds of times over the years.

Data reflected runs through March 2024

Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker

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