FAME Recording Studios (Muscle Shoals)
Last checked: Oct 15, 2026
Provisional guide: Staff help isn't verified yet. We'll update this guide as we confirm more.
FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals offers guided studio tours. FAME is a different studio from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, which has its own guide.
- Accessible parking
- Accessible restrooms
- Heads-up: the Backstage Tour isn't wheelchair accessible
Plan your visit
FAME Recording Studios is at 603 E. Avalon Ave., Muscle Shoals. Call (256) 381-0801 or email info@famestudios.com (FAME tours (opens in new tab), [Official], checked Oct 15, 2026).
- Tours: the guided tour takes about 1 hour. Tours run Monday–Friday at 9 AM and 4 PM, and Saturday at 10 AM, noon and 2 PM (FAME tours (opens in new tab), [Official], checked Oct 15, 2026). The Shoals Chamber listing gives 3:30 PM for weekday studio tours (Secondary (opens in new tab)). FAME lists 3:30 PM as its Backstage Tour time, which isn't wheelchair accessible. The Standard Studio Tour runs at 9 AM and 4 PM.
Worth your time
- The history: FAME lists artists who recorded there, including Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, Etta James and Otis Redding (FAME Studios (opens in new tab), [Official], checked Oct 16, 2026).
Accessibility and ratings
Heads-up: the Backstage Tour isn't wheelchair accessible. FAME says its staff "can accommodate disabled individuals on the Standard Studio Tour," but "the Backstage Tour Experience is not wheelchair accessible" (FAME tours (opens in new tab); Backstage Tour tickets (opens in new tab), [Official], checked Oct 15, 2026). The Backstage Tour is a separate, optional tour. Book the Standard Studio Tour.
What we found
From FAME's official pages
- Accessibility: staff can accommodate disabled visitors on the Standard Studio Tour. The Backstage Tour isn't wheelchair accessible (FAME tours (opens in new tab), [Official], checked Oct 15, 2026).
Firsthand report: Cory Lee
Cory Lee, a power-wheelchair user, toured FAME in 2025 on a trip hosted by Visit North Alabama (Curb Free with Cory Lee, Jun 2, 2025 (opens in new tab), [Trusted firsthand source], checked Oct 15, 2026). He reports:
- free accessible parking near the entrance;
- rolling inside and watching a short video in the gift shop before the tour;
- that "the entire tour was wheelchair accessible." His tour ran about 90 minutes, longer than the official one-hour tour.
Details not published
- Restroom layout: Cory Lee, a trusted reviewer, said the entire tour was wheelchair accessible and didn't flag the restrooms, but neither he nor FAME describes them in detail.
- Visual and sensory access: FAME doesn't publish braille, large-print, audio-description, tactile or service-animal information.
What other sources report
- Check this (TripAdvisor review, Jul 9, 2023): a visitor wrote, "Small building thus not suitable for large groups at one time. Steps too." It doesn't say where the steps are, and Cory Lee, a trusted firsthand source, wrote in 2025 that "The entire tour was wheelchair accessible" (Curb Free with Cory Lee, Jun 2, 2025 (opens in new tab), [Trusted firsthand source], checked Oct 16, 2026). A single review doesn't change a score (TripAdvisor (opens in new tab), [Secondary], checked Oct 16, 2026).
- A Visit North Alabama press release says FAME's standard tour can accommodate wheelchair users, which matches FAME's own page (Visit North Alabama press release, May 28, 2026 (opens in new tab), [Trusted], checked Oct 14, 2026).
FAME Recording Studios (Standard Studio Tour)
| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Overall | 5 of 5 · Fully accessible (staff help not yet confirmed) Average of the 4 rated categories. |
| Entry & Arrival | 5 of 5 · Trusted visitor report Not personally verified |
| Getting Around / Paths | 5 of 5 · Trusted visitor report Not personally verified |
| Restrooms | 5 of 5 · Trusted visitor report Not personally verified; no information we found contradicts accessibility |
| Parking & Drop-off | 5 of 5 · Trusted visitor report Not personally verified |
| Staff & Info | Not verified |
Paths scores 5 for the Standard Studio Tour. FAME says staff can accommodate disabled visitors on it, and Cory Lee, a trusted firsthand source, found "the entire tour was wheelchair accessible." Heads-up: the Backstage Tour isn't wheelchair accessible. It's a separate, optional tour, so it doesn't lower the Standard Tour's score. Entry scores 5: Cory Lee rolled inside. Parking scores 5: he found free accessible parking near the entrance. Neither is described in detail, and missing details don't lower a score. Restrooms score 5: Cory Lee, a trusted firsthand reviewer, found "the entire tour was wheelchair accessible" and flagged no problem, and we count his report the same as the venue's own word. Staff & Info is Not verified: FAME says staff can accommodate disabled visitors, but it publishes no loaner equipment or other accessibility details. Overall is 5 of 5, the average of the 4 rated categories.
Ratings tagged "not personally verified" rest on information the venue published or on trusted firsthand reports; we have not personally verified them.
Last checked: Oct 2026 · Sources: FAME tours (opens in new tab) (official); Curb Free with Cory Lee, Jun 2, 2025 (opens in new tab) (trusted firsthand source; hosted trip)
Last checked Oct 15, 2026. Sources: FAME tours (opens in new tab) · FAME Backstage Tour tickets (opens in new tab) · Curb Free with Cory Lee, Jun 2, 2025 (opens in new tab) (trusted firsthand source) · Visit North Alabama press release (opens in new tab) (trusted source)
Where to stay: compare the accessibility features hotels publish in our North Alabama hotel directory.