Gilley’s Club in Pasadena, Texas (from Urban Cowboy)


Gilley’s was a bar/honky tonk founded in 1971 by country singer Mickey Gilley in Pasadena, Texas. It was the central location in the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy.

What Gilley’s looks like now a days

It was a huge building with a corrugated steel roof that housed multiple bars and mechanical bulls. Connected to the club was a small rodeo arena that would also host both bicycle and motorcycle motocross races on Friday and Saturday nights.

Sherwood Cryer was the co-owner of Gilley’s; he had many night clubs in Pasadena.

Gilley’s ceased operations after a falling-out between Gilley and Cryer. In 1989, a fire, attributed to arson, gutted the interior. The rodeo arena and some livestock stalls were the only structures still standing until 2006, when it was demolished by the Pasadena Independent School District, its current owner. Only the old sound recording studio remains, on Spencer Highway.

On October 2, 2003, Gilley’s was reopened at a new location in Dallas-Fort Worth. The new club features a 26,000-square-foot (2,400 m2) main show room and the original mechanical bull, El Toro, featured in the movie Urban Cowboy. In total, the new club has 91,000 square feet (8,500 m2) of restaurant, entertainment, meeting, and private function space.

Photo Gallery:

Is that Glen Campbell? LOL, I don’t think so.

Main Entrance to Gilley’s. My uncles all hated Gilley’s. “Too many fights” they said.

Gilley’s touring semi truck.

Men who put out the fire.

Classic picture from Gilley’s.

The dance floor.

Gilley’s Ultra-Lite. Great advertising!

Great merchandise!

Are they related to me? LOL (guy on right was bouncer in the movie Urban Cowboy, he had a few speaking parts)

Aftermath of the fire.

You had me at “Hold my beer”.

Classic. From a by-gone era.

Cute dad and kid. Date and persons unknown, but a great Polaroid!