NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Ralph Stanley, a patriarch of Appalachian music who with his brother Carter helped expand and popularize the genre that became known as bluegrass, has died. He was 89.
Stanley died Thursday at his home in Sandy Ridge, Va., because of difficulties from skin cancer, his publicist Kirt Webster said.
A performer for decades, Stanley brought his old-time mountain music into a new century when he was featured in the soundtrack for the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2000, for which he won a Grammy.
Stanley was born and raised in Big Spraddle, Va., where his father sang and his mother was a banjo player. He and his brother Carter formed the Stanley Brothers and their Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946.
In 1951, they popularized "Man of Constant Sorrow," and spend the next 15 years touring the country, playing at folk and bluegrass festivals.
Carter Stanley, the group's main songwriter and lead singer, died of liver disease in 1966.
"Within weeks of his passing, I got phone calls and letters and telegrams and they all said, 'Don't quit.' They said, 'We've always been behind you and Carter, but now we'll be behind you even more because we know you'll need us,'" Stanley said in 2006.
After Carter's death, Ralph Stanley continued performing, changing the Clinch Mountain Boys' lineup over the years.
Stanley performed at the inaugurations of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, was given a Living Legend medal from the Library of Congress and a National Medal of Arts presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and President George W. Bush. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2000.
At age 73, he was introduced to a new generation of fans in 2000 with "O Death" from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. The album sold millions of copies.
He won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 2002 -- beating out the likes of Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. The next year Stanley and Jim Lauderdale won a Grammy for best bluegrass album for Lost in the Lonesome Pines.
Despite health problems, he continued to record and tour into his 80s, often performing with his son Ralph Stanley II on guitar and his grandson Nathan on mandolin.
A Section on 06/25/2016