• ABOUT
    • Contact
    • The Team
    • FAQ
    • Use & Privacy Policy
  • ADVERTISE
  • JOB LISTINGS
MusicRow.com
  • CALENDARS
    • Album Releases
    • Single Releases
    • Industry Events
  • EVENTS
  • OBITS
  • REVIEWS
  • CHARTS
    • CountryBreakout Radio Chart
      • Current CountryBreakout Chart
      • CountryBreakout Chart Archives
    • No. 1 Challenge Coin
    • Top Songwriter Chart
      • Current Top Songwriter Chart
      • Top Songwriter Chart Archive
  • ROWFAX
  • NEWSLETTER
  • SIGN UP
  • STORE
  • Search
  • Menu

Colorful Talent Manager Tandy Rice Passes

August 5, 2015/0 Comments/in Featured, Obituary /by Robert K Oermann
Tandy Rice

Tandy Rice

Music Row magnate Tandy Rice died at Centennial Hospital on Monday (Aug. 3) afternoon. He was 76 years old.

The statesman-like Music City personality managed and/or booked such country-music greats as Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Jim Ed Brown, The Kendalls, Tom T. Hall, Helen Cornelius, Jeannie C. Riley, and more.

Born Tandy Clinton Rice Jr. in 1938, he was a native of Franklin, TN. Unlike most of his peers, he was a patrician. His father was a prominent physician, and the future entrepreneur grew up privileged and indulged. He attended The Citadel and Vanderbilt.

Minnie Pearl (Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon) was a distant cousin. She encouraged him to enter the music business. Tandy Rice began his career as a publicist, representing Waylon Jennings, Chet Atkins, Kitty Wells and Hank Williams Jr., among others. He hit his stride as a salesman for Show Biz, Inc., which distributed syndicated country television shows to stations throughout the nation. After three years there, he bought the company’s booking agency, Top Billing, Inc. He developed Top Billing into a Nashville powerhouse. At its peak, the firm booked and/or managed 18 major artists. There, Tandy Rice famously managed Mississippi fertilizer salesman Jerry Clower, who became a recording artist, a Grand Ole Opry member, a top convention speaker, a commercial pitchman, an author, a radio host and a TV star. Similarly, he transformed Billy Carter into a national media celebrity who out-earned his brother, President Jimmy Carter.

Always impeccably groomed and socially polished, Tandy Rice was a master salesman, using his folksy humor, honeyed Southern drawl, evangelistic enthusiasm and skill as a raconteur to charm everyone who met him. He became nearly as well known as the artists he represented. Rice was profiled in Newsweek, The Washington Post, People, Playboy, The New York Times and other national publications. Rice was a judge for the 1983 Miss America Pageant, which crowned Vanessa Williams. He also judged it in 1996, as well as several lesser such competitions.

“Tandy was not only one of the greatest agents in the business, but he was also one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.  I loved him dearly as a friend.  He will live in the heart of this town forever; and forever he will certainly live in mine,” says Dolly Parton.

At home in Music City, he became the host of the top-rated WLAC radio talk show Good Morning Nashville, as well as NewsChannel 5’s Morningline TV program. For 15 years, he hosted the United Cerebral Palsy Telethon on WKRN-TV. He served on the board of the CMA for more than a decade and was its president in 1981. He became an adjunct professor at Belmont University’s Mike Curb School of Music Business. In 2007, he was announced as the Dean of George Jones University.

In 2010, he survived prostate cancer. The following year, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA). In 2014, Tandy Rice became the inaugural inductee into the National Association of Talent Directors (NATD) Hall of Fame.

In addition to his Music Row activities, Rice was prominent in several Nashville civic organizations and charities. His organizations included the Boy Scouts, The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, The Nashville Rotary Club and Battle Ground Academy.

He is survived by daughters Cynthia Rice Simonet and Marjorie Rice Mason, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Visitation was held Friday, Aug. 7, 5:30 p.m – 8:30 p.m. at Fourth Avenue Church of Christ located at 117 4th Avenue North in Franklin, TN. The memorial service was scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8 at 11:00 a.m. at Fourth Avenue Church of Christ. Memorial Donations may be made to: The Rice Family Middle-Tennessee Scholarship Fund at The Citadel, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29409, or GraceWorks Ministries, 104 Southeast Pkwy, Franklin, TN 37064. Condolences may be offered online at www.tennesseanfuneralhome.com.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Robert K Oermann
Robert K. Oermann is a longtime contributor to MusicRow. He is a respected music critic, author and historian.
Latest posts by Robert K Oermann (see all)
  • DISClaimer Single Reviews: Marty Stuart, Blake Shelton, Tiera, Caitlyn Smith, Old Dominion - January 21, 2021
  • Country Entertainer Hugh X. Lewis Dies At Age 90 - January 19, 2021
  • DISClaimer Single Reviews: Rhonda Vincent, Sister Sadie, Carolina Blue, The Grascals - January 14, 2021
Tags: featured-2
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://musicrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tandyrice1.jpg 260 390 Robert K Oermann https://musicrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MusicRow-header-logo-Mar19B.png Robert K Oermann2015-08-05 09:45:062015-08-05 09:45:06Colorful Talent Manager Tandy Rice Passes
You might also like
Sugarland Returns With Big Machine, UMG Nashville Joint Venture
DISClaimer: Ladies Rule The Day
Weekly Register: Luke Bryan Stays On Top
The Authenticity Debate, Revisited
Early ACM Awards Wins For Brothers Osborne, Rhett Akins
Bobby Karl Works Zac Brown Band's CMHoF Exhibit Preview
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

RECENT NEWS

  • Morgan Wallen And Co-Writers Swarm Top Ten On ‘MusicRow’ Top Songwriter Chart January 25, 2021
  • NSAI Elects Kelly Archer, Corey Crowder, Jessie Jo Dillon, Sharon Vaughn as Board Members January 25, 2021
  • Weekly Register: Morgan Wallen Continues Chart Reign January 25, 2021
  • WMBA Welcomes New Members, Launches 2021 Season January 25, 2021
  • Big Loud Records, Back Blocks Music, Republic Records Partner To Sign Lily Rose January 25, 2021
  • Brett Young To Perform Live From The Runway In February January 25, 2021
  • Sheltered Music Publishing, Patrick Joseph Music Sign Melissa Peirce January 25, 2021
  • James White, Owner of Austin’s Broken Spoke Honky Tonk, Dies January 25, 2021
  • CMA Funds Additional Nonprofits In Continuing Commitment To Pandemic Support January 25, 2021
  • Matt Wynn Signs With Given Entertainment For Publishing, Management January 25, 2021
  • CMT Reveals Next Women Of Country Class Of 2021 January 25, 2021
  • Chris Janson Celebrates Fourth Career No. 1, “Done” January 22, 2021
  • Tim Mcgraw, Tyler Hubbard Claim Most Added At Country Radio January 22, 2021
  • Lucas Hoge Shares Gospel Favorites On New ‘Sunday Sessions’ Project January 22, 2021
  • Pat Barrett Readies Sophomore Album For February January 22, 2021

Likes us on Facebook

Recently on Twitter

Tweets by MusicRow
© 2020 Music Row Enterprises, LLC – All rights reserved.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Scroll to top