Skip to content
BusinessesGrow
FAME Recording Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

ToursHistory BuffRainy-Day Pick

FAME Recording Studios

603 East Avalon Ave · Muscle Shoals, AL

Why you should go…

FAME is a working recording studio that Rick Hall built on Avalon Avenue with proceeds from Arthur Alexander's 1961 hit "You Better Move On." The standard guided tour lasts about an hour and takes you through historic Studios A and B while guides tell the stories behind recordings by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Etta James. A longer backstage tour adds the publishing office and Rick Hall's personal office, with gold records and instruments from notable sessions.

  • #recording studio
  • #music history
  • #guided tour
  • #muscle shoals sound

Good to know

General tours guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Confirm the meeting point

    It is often a corner, a lobby, or a dock rather than the address you searched for. Check it the night before.

  • Small groups fill first

    In high season the intimate departures sell out well before the big-bus options do.

  • Ask how much is on foot

    Knowing how much of the route is walking, standing, or outdoors tells you what to wear and carry.

  • Read the weather policy

    Cancellation windows and rain rules vary by operator, and they are easier to find before you pay than after.

What's around here?

The closest stops to FAME Recording Studios, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Tours
    Iconic

    Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

    $25–$50

    Take a guided tour of the 1969 studio where the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan recorded.

    1.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Ivy Green

    Under $25

    Tour Helen Keller's childhood home and see the well pump where she first connected words to the world.

    2.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Shiloh National Military Park

    Free

    Drive the 12.7-mile tour road through the 1862 Shiloh battlefield, past the Hornets' Nest, the Peach Orchard and the national cemetery.

    47 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums
    Iconic

    U.S. Space & Rocket Center

    $25–$50

    See a Saturn V moon rocket, the Pathfinder shuttle stack and hands-on space exhibits at the home of Space Camp in Huntsville.

    58 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums