Ralph Stanley, the godfather of traditional bluegrass music who found a new generation of fans late in life thanks to his Grammy-winning music for the 2000 movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” died Thursday at the age of 89, his grandson announced.
Stanley — a virtuoso clawhammer banjoist and founder of the groundbreaking band the Clinch Mountain Boys — “went peacefully in his sleep due to a long, horrible battle with skin cancer,” Nathan Stanley, a popular gospel and bluegrass musician in his own right, wrote on his website late Thursday.
Ralph Stanley’s official Facebook page reprinted the announcement a…
Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News.
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