The Great Minnesota Get-Together opens up Thursday for its 2018 run, but you probably won't be able to guess which artist drew the biggest crowds when they played at the Fair.

CSJ/TSM-Rochester
CSJ/TSM-Rochester
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According to its official website, the Minnesota State Fair started offering entertainment in the grandstand waaaay back in 1962. Dennis Day, Jane Russell and Jimmy Dean were the headliners on the main stage back then.

Since that time, the State Fair has attracted some pretty big names too. Classic country icons like Buck Owens, Dolly Parton and Conway Twitty all played here back in the late 60's. In the 70's, Charlie Rich, Jerry Reed, Tanya Tucker and the Brady Bunch kids were some of the big names on the main stage.

In the 80's, Willie Nelson, Alabama, Barbara Mandrell and the Oak Ridge Boys were marquee performers. And, in the 90's you had big country stars like Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt and Brooks & Dunn all sell tons of tickets.

But can you guess which performer sold the MOST tickets in Minnesota State Fair history? My guess was Garth, who played here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes right when his popularity was taking off, back in '91 and '92. But, nope, it wasn't him. And it wasn't Tim McGraw, who played here in '97, or even Brooks & Dunn, who played the Fair several times at the peak of their popularity in the late 90's.

So just WHO had the biggest crowds in State Fair history? Well, that'd be... former 'The Voice' judge, Christina Aguilera, who, the site says, "broke the all-time record for the most tickets sold to a single Grandstand show in 2000, selling 22,117 tickets."

This year, of course, Maren Morris will be there on Thursday 8/23, Sugarland (with Lindsay Ell and Frankie Ballard) on Friday 8/24 and Old Dominion (with Morgan Evans) on Wednesday 8/29.

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc

 

 

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