Grammy-Winning Bluegrass Legend Tony Rice Dies At 69

Rice (Photo: Jeremy M. Lange)

The Bluegrass and Country music communities are mourning the loss of guitarist TONY RICE, who passed away on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25th at the age of 69. RICE was a 2013 inductee into the BLUEGRASS MUSIC HALL OF FAME and won a GRAMMY Award in 1983 for “Fireball” in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category. Read RICE’s full bio on the HALL OF FAME’s web site here.

Fellow artist RICKY SKAGGS called RICE, “The single most influential acoustic guitar player in the last 50 years. Many if not all of the Bluegrass guitar players of today would say that they cut their teeth on TONY RICE’s music. He loved hearing the next generation players play his licks. I think that’s where he got most of his joy as a player.

“Not only was TONY a brilliant guitar player, but he was also one of the most stylistic lead vocalists in Bluegrass music history,” SKAGGS added.

Survivors include his wife, PAM, daughter INDIA, and brothers WYATT and RONNIE.

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