Q: In 1972, during the halftime of the Alabama football game, the UT band brought fans to their feet as what was played for the first time in Neyland Stadium?
A: Rocky Top. The song was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in only ten minutes in 1967. The Bryant’s were working on a collection of slow tempo songs for a project for Archie Campbell and Chet Atkins, and writing Rocky Top was a diversion. The song became one of Tennessee’s five official state songs in 1982. During the 1994 celebration of the bicentennial, the UT Concert Choir sang Rocky Top in Latin at the kickoff breakfast.