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http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/06/23/ralph-stanley-bluegrass-legend-dead-89/86038242/
Bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley died Thursday night after a battle with skin cancer, according to aFacebook post by his grandson, Nathan Stanley.
Dr. Stanley was 89 years old and a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. After receiving an honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln Memorial University in 1976 (and another one from Yale in 2014), he was known to fans worldwide as "Doctor Ralph."
Singing was as natural as breathing for Ralph Edmund Stanley, who was born Feb. 25, 1927, on Big Spraddle Creek in Dickenson County, Virginia. His first public performance was in church, and when he was 11 years old, his mother said that he could either have a pig or a banjo. Luckily for music fans everywhere, he chose the latter. His style of banjo picking—which, like the man himself, had no frills—would go on to influence countless musicians.
"You don't replace a Ralph Stanley," said Eric Gibson of bluegrass duo The Gibson Brothers. "His voice sounds like it has been here since time began."
"He sang mountain music, and he took what he did very seriously," added singer-songwriter Paul Burch, who recorded with Dr. Stanley and opened for him on a UK tour. I think he wanted other people to hear the beauty of the region that he came from." .........
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