Opry Star Stu Phillips Passes

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Stu Phillips

Longtime Grand Ole Opry cast member Stu Phillips died on Dec. 25 at age 92.

A mellow-voiced crooner, Phillips was a member of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame who hosted national radio and television shows in his homeland. He placed eight singles on the U.S. country charts in the 1960s, including the 1967 top-20 hits “Vin Rose” and “Juanita Jones.”

Stuart John Tristram Phillips was born in Quebec, but rose to fame in the western province of Alberta, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. He was a DJ on CFRN radio with a morning show titled “Stu for Breakfast.” Phillips graduated to the “Town and Country” afternoon program and a Friday-night broadcast titled “Cowtown Jamboree.”

Moving to television, he starred on the national, Saturday-night CBC program Red River Jamboree in 1961-65. After achieving several Canadian hits, he moved to Nashville in 1965. Chet Atkins signed him to RCA and produced his records. After making 20+ guest appearances on its stage, Stu Phillips joined the Opry’s cast in 1967.

Known as “The Western Gentleman” and “The Traveling Balladeer,” he starred on the syndicated TV series Music Place in the 1970s. He was popular overseas and toured in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He and his wife Aldona owned and operated the Long Hollow Winery in Goodlettsville. Son Joel Phillips maintains that business today.

Stu Phillips earned a divinity degree from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. His Opry appearances became less frequent in the 1980s when he became a minister in the Episcopal Church.

More than 30 years after he joined the Opry’s cast, Phillips became a U.S. citizen in 1998. He and Adona celebrated the event on the Opry stage during the Fourth of July weekend that year.

At the time of his death, Stu Phillips was the Grand Ole Opry’s senior cast member. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Robert K Oermann
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