Bob Wills Day at the Capitol
March 10, 2025, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
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An annual celebration of an Oklahoma music icon is returning to the Oklahoma State Capitol on Monday, March 10. The Oklahoma Arts Council and Oklahoma Historical Society are partnering to bring live music performances from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to the Capitol’s second-floor rotunda. A schedule of performers will be announced closer to the date of the event.
Bob Wills Day at the Capitol commemorates the life and legacy of the “King of Western Swing,” who helped popularize the music genre during the 1930s and 40s. Wills’ band, the Texas Playboys, had a daily program on the Tulsa radio outlet KVOO and were regular performers at the venerable Cain’s Ballroom.
State Senator John Dahl started Bob Wills Day at the Capitol in the 1980s. The celebration took place every spring until the Capitol restoration project began in 2014. It was brought back in 2023. In 1988, the state Legislature designated Bob Wills’ song “Faded Love” as Oklahoma’s official country and western song.
