Bluegrass Legend Ralph Stanley Dead at 89

Bluegrass Legend Ralph Stanley Dead at 89

Esteemed bluegrass singer/musician Dr. Ralph Stanley has died at 89, the Tennessean reports. A Facebook post by his grandson Nathan Stanley confirms that the Grand Ole Opry member passed away after a battle with skin cancer. Stanley was the recipient of two honorary Doctorates of Music, one from Lincoln Memorial University in 1976 and another from Yale University in 2014. After rising in the music industry in the 1950s with his brother Carter as the Stanley Brothers, Dr. Stanley would later go on to be named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 2000. His rendition of the Appalachian folk song “O Death” was featured prominently in the Coen brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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