BREAKING: Joel Katz, Prominent Music Industry Attorney, Passes Away

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Joel Katz

Renowned music industry attorney Joel Katz has passed away at the age of 80, MusicRow has confirmed.

Katz was the founding chairman of the global entertainment and media practice at Greenberg Traurig and played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of countless artists, producers and executives. Over his decades-long career, he represented a wide-ranging roster of legendary clients, including James Brown, Jimmy Buffett, Jamie Foxx, Steve Harvey, Faith Hill, Julio Iglesias, Alan Jackson, the Estate of Michael Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Little Big Town, Ludacris, Tim McGraw, L.A. Reid, George Strait, James Taylor, Justin Timberlake, TLC and many more. He also served as counsel to major industry organizations such as the Recording Academy and the Country Music Association.

Beyond artist representation, Katz helped shape the modern entertainment industry by facilitating corporate acquisitions and mergers and consulting for multi-national and multi-media entertainment companies.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Katz earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee and spent the majority of his life and career in Atlanta.

In 2021, he stepped down from Greenberg Traurig and joined Barnes & Thornburg, bringing clients including Mike Dungan and Randy Goodman with him.

At one time, Katz was ranked Billboard’s No. 1 entertainment attorney on its Power 100 list of the music industry’s most powerful executives. He also made a lasting impact on education, endowing and establishing a commercial music program at Kennesaw State University—now one of the largest music education programs in the U.S. In recognition of his contributions, the University of Tennessee College of Law named its library in his honor: the Joel A. Katz Law Library.

Katz was also known for his philanthropy, particularly his support of City of Hope and the T.J. Martell Foundation. Over the years, he was honored numerous times, including receiving the Recording Academy’s prestigious Trustees Award.

A service for Katz will be held on Tuesday, April 22 at 3:00 p.m. at Arlington Memorial Park (201 Mt Vernon Hwy NW, Sandy Springs, GA 30328) followed Shivah at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Temple Sinai (5645 Dupree Dr., Atlanta, GA 30327.)

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations in Katz’ memory may be made to the Mayo Clinic: Joel and Rikki Katz PSP Research Fund (Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905.)

Stellar Guitarist & Songwriter Mac Gayden Passes

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Mac Gayden. Photo: Jim McGuire, courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Nashville pop/rock pioneer Mac Gayden died on Wednesday (April 16) at age 83.

Gayden left his mark on Music City as a songwriter, a guitarist and a performer. He co-wrote such soul classics as “Everlasting Love” and “She Shot a Hole in My Soul,” co-founded the Southern rock bands Barefoot Jerry and Area Code 615, recorded a number of solo LPs and played lead guitar on albums by Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Linda Ronstadt and many others.

Born McGavock Dickinson Gayden and raised in a prominent Nashville family, Gayden pursued music as a career despite his family’s wish that he become a doctor. As a teenager, his guitar skills earned him membership in the pioneering Nashville rock & roll band The Escorts, featuring future Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie McCoy. In the early 1960s, The Escorts toured regionally and played local gigs, including many fraternity parties at Vanderbilt University.

At one of those Vanderbilt gigs, he met local soul singer Robert Knight. Gayden and Buzz Cason co-wrote “Everlasting Love” for Knight and produced his 1967 hit record of the song. “Everlasting Love” went on to become a pop standard. It has been a hit in various countries 12 times, including U.S. versions by Carl Carlton (1974), Rex Smith & Rachel Sweet (1981) and Gloria Estefan (1995). Superstar rockers U2 issued their rendition of the song in 1994.

Robert Knight introduced Gayden & Cason’s “Love on a Mountain Top” in 1968. The song was a favorite in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but failed to catch on nationally. But in 1974, Knight’s single became a top-10 in Finland, Ireland and the U.K. The songwriting team also crafted Knight’s 1968 single “My Rainbow Valley,” which became a top-10 U.K. hit via a version by The Love Affair.

Gayden and Chuck Neese co-wrote the beach-music mainstay “She Shot a Hole in My Soul,” which was originated by Clifford Curry in 1967. The song was subsequently recorded by The Box Tops, John Fred & His Playboy Band, Huey Lewis & The News and others.

By the late 1960s, Mac Gayden’s prowess as a guitarist had attracted the attention of Nashville’s top session musicians and producers. With Wayne Moss, Kenny Buttrey, McCoy and others, he formed Area Code 615 in 1969. The group members all maintained their Music Row studio work and split up after two albums. Gayden and Moss formed Barefoot Jerry, which was active in 1971-72 with Gayden in its lineup. The widely admired Barefoot Jerry was mentioned in the Charlie Daniels Band 1975 rock hit “The South’s Gonna Do It Again.”

Like most of the other members of his early bands, Mac Gayden became a popular session musician. Already an accomplished slide guitarist, he fed his playing through a wah-wah pedal to create the ear-catching sound on the 1972 J.J. Cale pop hit “Crazy Mama.” Gayden’s innovative playing was also heard on records by Simon & Garfunkel, Charlie Rich,Leonard Cohen, John Hiatt, Charley Pride, Tammy Wynette and Loudon Wainwright, as well as the superstars cited above.

Gayden’s style was deeply influenced by R&B. In addition to Knight and Curry, he played on soul records by Roscoe Shelton, Arthur Alexander, The Pointer Sisters, Ivory Joe Hunter, Gene Allison and Joe Simon, plus The Valentines, whom he produced (notably on his song “Gotta Get Yourself Together”). Out-of-town visitors Connie Francis, Bobby Vinton, Patti Page, Ian & Sylvia, Robert Mitchum, The Alarm, Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey and Karen Black had Gayden’s guitar on their sessions, too.

He also continued to record his own music. Mac Gayden issued McGavock as his debut solo LP in 1972. ABC Records signed him for Skyboat (1975) and Hymn to the Seeker (1976). His 1996 collection Nirvana Blues was the most critically praised of his albums.

As a record producer, Gayden created albums with Dianne Davidson and Steve Young. His songs were recorded by Bobby Bare, Porter Wagoner, The Crickets, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, James & Bobby Purify, Carol Chase and The Crickets, among others.

In later years, Mac Gayden worked with a number of independent recording artists. He also operated his label, Wild Child Records. Gayden chronicled his life, music, and search for inner harmony in a 2013 memoir, Missing String Theory: A Musician’s Uncommon Spiritual Journey.

That same year, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum featured him in its “Nashville Cats” interview series. Gayden was also a key figure in two of the museum’s major exhibitions, “Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues” and “Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats.” The “Night Train” commemorative album won a Grammy Award and included Gayden’s tunes “Everlasting Love,” “She Shot a Hole in My Soul” and “Gotta Get Yourself Together.”

Mac Gayden’s brother Joseph Gayden (1947-2004) managed Quadraphonic Sound Studios in the 1980s and was a sculptor. Brother Hamilton Gayden is a retired Davidson County Judge.

His death was announced by The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. Funeral arrangements have not been posted.

Hit Country Songwriter Larry Bastian Passes

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Larry Bastian

Longtime Major Bob Publishing songwriter Larry Bastian died on Sunday (April 6) at age 90.

Bastian co-wrote such Garth Brooks hits as “Unanswered Prayers,” “Rodeo” and “The Old Man’s Back in Town” in 1991-92. The superstar recorded many other Bastian songs, as did a who’s-who of country music.

Larry Bastian was born and raised in California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, and he lived throughout his life in the Springville/Porterville area. He was from a farming family. Following high school, he spent his early years farming and cowboying. Bastian then worked for 15 years as a biologist for the Department of Agriculture for Kern and Tulare Counties.

But he always made music. Touring country artists who heard his songs, encouraged him to send his music to Nashville. In the 1970s, Larry Bastian decided to devote himself to songwriting.

His first notable success was when his “This Ain’t Tennessee and He Ain’t You” was recorded by Janie Fricke in 1980. Although never a hit, it became the songwriter’s most recorded song, with a version by Tom Jones, among several other notables. In 1981, Sammi Smith’s recording of “Sometimes I Cry When I’m Alone” became the songwriter’s first top-40 hit. Shortly afterward, David Frizzell & Merle Haggard recorded “Lefty,” Bastian’s tribute to Lefty Frizzell, who was David’s brother and Merle’s idol.

Bastian songs also charted for Ray Price, Wyley McPherson and The Kendalls in the 1980s. In 1988, Conway Twitty had a top-10 smash with “Saturday Night Special.” Garth Brooks began his run of Bastian-penned successes in 1991. Sammy Kershaw had a top-20 hit with “Yard Sale” in 1992 and repeated the feat with “If You’re Gonna Walk, I’m Gonna Crawl” in 1997. Bastian’s last notable chart success was in 2004 with Craig Morgan’s version of “Look at Us.”

During his songwriting career, Larry Bastian’s works were also recorded by George Jones, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Vern Gosdin, Eddy Arnold, Buck Owens, Tammy Wynette, Tracy Byrd, Lacy J. Dalton, Moe Bandy, Rhett Akins, The Whites, Neal McCoy, Con Hunley and many others.

His songs also found a home in bluegrass music.

Larry Bastian passed away in Porterville, California. No funeral arrangements have been announced.

Folk & Bluegrass Great Tracy Schwarz Passes

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Tracy Schwarz

Best known for his work in The New Lost City Ramblers, fiddler/singer Tracy Schwarz passed away on March 29 in Elkins, West Virginia at age 86.

Raised in New Jersey and Vermont, Schwarz took up the guitar as a pre-teen after listening to country radio stations. He mastered the fiddle in the 1950s, and immersed himself in the bluegrass scene in Washington, D.C. while attending college there.

After serving in the Army for two years, he joined Mike Seeger and John Cohen in forming The New Lost City Ramblers in 1962. The group began as old-time music revivalists, but soon absorbed the bluegrass, folk and Cajun influences that Schwarz brought to the band.

The New Lost City Ramblers became one of the mainstays of Folkways Records. The band recorded nine albums for the label between 1964 and 2009. The New Lost City Ramblers collaboration with country-music legend Cousin Emmy was a highlight in 1968.

Tracy Schwarz and Mike Seeger also recorded as members of The Strange Creek Singers in 1972. That group was the launchpad for the feminist old-time duo Hazel & Alice (Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard), who influenced The Judds.

During his career’s 50+ additional years, Tracy Schwarz also recorded four solo albums, four others with Cajun master Dewey Balfa and three with Schwarz’s musical family.

He was an enthusiastic educator of traditional music styles and made several fiddle instruction albums. The Folkways website printed this as a eulogy: “He fervently believed that anyone who was interested in learning how to play an instrument or sing, could.

His infectious enthusiasm and innovative methods helped generations of students around the world to develop their skills.”

Avenue Bank Founder Van Tucker Passes

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Van Tucker

Music Row banking executive Van Tucker passed away on March 28. She was 67.

Tucker was the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Avenue Bank, and later served as CEO of Nashville Fashion Alliance and Launch Tennessee. She was a 1999 graduate (and later a board member) of Nashville’s Leadership Music program, and a founder and board member of the Americana Music Association, among many other board positions.

Tucker is survived by her husband of 17 years, Monty Holmes; sons Casey Spicer and Eamonn (Ami) Spicer; grandchildren Annalen Spicer, Oakley Spicer, Ripley Spicer, Alyse Spicer, Charlotte Gibson; bonus children Whitney (Andy) Gibson and Braden (Michelle Gay) Holmes; furry loves Mr. B and Beck; brother Melvin C. (Theresa) Tucker III; nieces Cate Tucker and Vivienne Tucker; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the Williamson County Animal Shelter.

A Celebration of Life for Tucker will take place on May 18 at 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Franklin Mercantile (100 4th Ave. N, Franklin, TN 37064). Billed as her “Farewell Tour,” attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite stories and memories of Tucker.

Songwriting Legend Troy Seals Passes

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Troy Seals. Photo: Courtesy of ASCAP

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Troy Seals has died at age 86.

During his illustrious career, Seals co-wrote more than 75 charted singles, including 30 top 10 hits and 11 No. 1 records. Among his classics are “Seven Spanish Angels,” “Lost in the Fifties Tonight,” “There’s a Honky-Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In)” and “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind.” Troy Seals was also a recording artist and a session guitarist.

The musician was born in Big Hill, Kentucky, and his family moved to Cincinnati when he was 11. Troy Seals began his career at age 17 in 1956. He and his band The Earthquakes performed on the rock & roll nightclub circuit during the 1950s, working with such legends as Fats Domino, Jackie Wilson, Bo Diddley, The Drifters, Lloyd Price, Dorsey Burnette and Chubby Checker.

At one rock & roll show, Seals met rockabilly recording artist Jo-Ann Campbell, who was featured in such teen films as Go, Johnny Go (1958) and Hey Let’s Twist (1961). Not long after Seals and Campbell married, she scored a 1963 country hit with “I’m the Girl From Wolverton Mountain.” Billed as “Jo-Ann & Troy,” the couple had pop success with “I Found a Love, Oh What a Love” in 1964.

After regular appearances on Dick Clark’s TV shows American Bandstand and Where the Action Is, Campbell retired in 1965. Seals gave up music and founded a construction company in 1968. The couple moved to Nashville in early 1969. Troy Seals continued to work in construction, building Music Row’s Quadraphonic Studio. He also took work as a session musician, hoping to break into the country industry.

He began to make inroads as a songwriter in the 1970s. In 1972, Sammi Smith had a top 40 hit with his “Girl in New Orleans.” Waylon Jennings introduced Seals’ co-written ballad “We Had It All” in 1973. Although never a big hit, the song became something of a country standard with subsequent versions by Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Tom Jones, B.J. Thomas, Tina Turner, Donna Fargo and co-writer Donnie Fritts, among others.

Troy Seals recorded his debut album at Quadraphonic in 1973. Titled Now Presenting Troy Seals, the Atlantic Records collection included his version of “We Had It All,” as well as “There’s a Honky Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In).”

Another of the artists Troy Seals worked with on the rock & roll circuit was Conway Twitty, who had transitioned into country stardom in Nashville. Twitty took Seals under his wing and in 1974 turned “There’s a Honky Tonk Angel” into the songwriter’s first No. 1 smash. Twitty also had No. 1 hits with the Seals tunes “Don’t Take It Away” (1979), “Red Neckin’ Love Makin’ Night” (1982) and “Fallin’ for You for Years” (1987). Three Troy Seals songs were duet hits for Twitty and Loretta Lynn, “Feelin’s” (1975), “I Can’t Love You Enough” (1977) and “From Seven Till Ten” (1978).

Producer Billy Sherrill recorded Troy Seals as the songwriter’s second album. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1976. Seals also recorded singles for Elektra, RCA, Polydor and several smaller labels. But he became increasingly known for his writing, rather than his recordings.

By the close of the 1970s, Troy Seals was established as a Music Row tunesmith. He worked with a variety of co-writers, most successfully Eddie Setser, Max D. Barnes, Graham Lyle and Mike Reid. Seals and wife Jo-Ann Campbell were also sometimes cowriters. His early songs were recorded by Johnny Paycheck, Jeanne Pruett, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nat Stuckey, Bob Luman and Connie Smith. In 1979, Elvis Presley had a posthumous, top 10 country hit with his revival of “There’s a Honky Tonk Angel.”

The 1980s witnessed his full flowering as a songwriter. During the decade, Troy Seals provided top-10 hits for Charley Pride (1980’s “You Almost Slipped My Mind”), The Bellamy Brothers (1984’s “Forget About Me”), George Jones (1985’s “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”), Keith Whitley (1986’s “Ten Feet Away”), Alabama (1984’s “When We Make Love”), John Schneider (1985’s “Country Girls”), Ronnie McDowell (1984’s “I Dream of Women Like You”), Lee Greenwood (1986’s “Didn’t We”) and Waylon Jennings (1985’s “Drinkin’ and Dreamin’”).

Between 1980 and 1986, Brenda Lee, David Allan Coe, Johnny Rodriguez, Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell, Dobie Gray and others also issued country singles of Troy Seals songs. In 1985, his co-written “Seven Spanish Angels” became a smash hit for Willie Nelson and Ray Charles. It was nominated as Song of the Year by the CMA and was the biggest country hit of Charles’ career.

Seals songs reached beyond country music. In 1983, Eric Clapton had a pop hit with the songwriter’s “I’ve Got a Rock and Roll Heart.” Over the years, Troy Seals copyrights were also recorded by such pop and R&B stars as Joe Cocker, Millie Jackson, Celine Dion, Three Dog Night, Etta James, Jodeci, Delbert McClinton, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones and Barry Manilow, among others.

In 1985, Ronnie Milsap had a huge hit with “Lost in the Fifties Tonight.” This became the second Troy Seals song nominated for a CMA Award. It won the ACM’s Song of the Year honor, was ASCAP’s Country Song of the Year and earned Milsap a Grammy. It also led to Troy Seals being named Country Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP.

Troy Seals became even more successful in 1987-88, when he co-wrote six top 10 country hits. In addition to Twitty’s “Fallin’ for You for Years,” these included “Maybe Your Baby’s Got the Blues” for The Judds, “Let the Music Lift You Up” for Reba McEntire, “No More One More Time” for Jo-El Sonnier, “Joe Knows How to Live” for Eddy Raven and “I Won’t Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)” for Randy Travis, which won the singer a Grammy Award. During this same two-year span, Seals also provided singles for Gene Watson, The Bama Band and Hank Williams Jr. This era was capped by his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988.

Troy Seals closed out the 1980s by cowriting a top-10 hit for The Oak Ridge Boys (“Beyond Those Years”) and a No. 1 success for Eddy Raven (“Bayou Boys”). Around this time, the songwriter’s nephew Brady Seals was becoming known at the keyboardist/singer in the band Little Texas. The extended family also included country stars Dan Seals and Johnny Duncan, pop star Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts and hit songwriter Chuck Seals (“Crazy Arms”).

Troy Seals began the 1990s with a flurry of successes. He co-wrote the George Jones/Randy Travis duet “A Few Ole Country Boys,” as well as Eddy Raven’s “Island” and Travis Tritt’s “Looking Out for Number One.” Seals earned his third CMA Song of the Year nomination along with co-writer Vince Gill for 1999’s “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind.”

His 1990s singles also included songs recorded by Faith Hill, John Anderson, Clinton Gregory, John Berry, Neal McCoy, J.P. Pennington, Chris LeDoux, Mike Reid and nephew Brady Seals, who was then recording as a solo artist. The songwriter’s last notable chart success was with his co-written “Good Little Girls,” recorded by the duo Blue County in 2003. At the time, Troy Seals was 65 years old.

Troy Seals died at home in Hendersonville on March 6. He is survived by wife Jo-Ann and by son Troy Jr. Funeral services were private.

Canadian Country Superstar Dick Damron Passes

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Dick Damron. Photo: Larry Delaney Music/Photo Archives

Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame member Dick Damron passed away on Saturday (March 29) in Alberta at age 91.

A former rodeo rider and oil-well laborer, Joseph Glenn Damron debuted on disc in 1959 as a rockabilly act. Dick Damron transitioned into a mainstream country stylist, recording with the A-Team in Nashville. In 1970-91 Dick Damron placed 38 singles on the RPM Country Hit charts, including 14 top-10 entries. His first two singles, “Countryfied” and “Rise And Shine,” both topped the Canadian country chart in 1971, as did 1976’s “On The Road” and 1977’s “Susan Flowers.”

As a songwriter, his country and gospel works were recorded by many, including Charley Pride, Wilf Carter, George Hamilton IV, Carroll Baker and Terry Carisse. Damron was noted for his “outlaw” image. In later years, his duets with Ginny Mitchell and Ray Griff were highlights.

During his peak years with RCA Canada in the 1970s and 1980s, Damron was named the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year, among other awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1994.

In 1997, Damron published his autobiography, The Legend & The Legacy. He has since published two novels. In 2011-12, Germany’s internationally esteemed Bear Family Records issued two 3-CD boxed sets of Dick Damron’s best.

BREAKING: Industry Veteran Lesly Simon Passes

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Lesly Simon

Lesly Simon passed away on Thursday (March 27) peacefully surrounded by her family after a battle with breast cancer.

Simon spent over 20 years in the music industry. In 2016, she was tapped by Garth Brooks as General Manager of his label, Pearl Records. She served in the same capacity for Trisha Yearwood’s, Gwendolyn Records, and has been integral to the continued success of both.

Prior to joining Pearl/Gwendolyn, Simon spent time as the Vice President of Promotion for Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville overseeing radio promotion and marketing for the roster including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Cam and more. During her tenure, she led the Arista team to more than 40 No. 1 singles on the Billboard and Mediabase Country charts. She was also instrumental in launch of Platinum and multi-Platinum albums and tracks from Underwood, Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Cam and many more.

Simon started her career at RCA in Nashville, and she expanded her expertise through roles with artist management and with both pop and country record labels in promotion and marketing.  She served as tour manager for country artist Mindy McCready on the top grossing tours of Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and George Strait.

While working in promotion at Capitol Records, she contributed to the airplay success of artists like Coldplay, The Beastie Boys, Kylie Minogue, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction and Snoop Dogg.

In 2020, Simon turned her passion for design and real estate into two new ventures, launching a Florida-based interior design firm with friend and interior designer Tyler Colgan, and starting the residential real estate division of the company with Corcoran Reverie.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Simon was a member of SOURCE, a Leadership Music Class of 2013 alum, and served on the Board of Directors for Country Radio Broadcasters. She was celebrated throughout her career with multiple industry award nominations and has been named one of Billboard’s Top 100 Country Power Players.

Simon is survived by her husband, Robert; step-children Max and Miller Simon; mother Cindy Adams Somerville; brother Taylor Somerville (Caroline); sisters Cindy Gallion (Thomas) and Amy Landers (William Hansen); mother-in-law Marcia Unger; sister-in-law Carrie Pizitz (Richard) and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. She is predeceased by her father Thomas Taylor Somerville Jr.

A service will take place on Monday (March 31) at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook, Alabama at 2:30 p.m. with visitation in Graham Hall immediately thereafter.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society or Joe Lee Griffin Hope Lodge in honor of Lesly Simon.

Bluegrass Banjo Wizard Eddie Adcock Passes

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Eddie Adcock. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Bluegrass banjo master Eddie Adcock passed away on March 20. He was 86.

A native of Scottsville, Virginia, Eddie left home when he was 14 and backed Mac Wiseman, Bill Harrell, Bill Monroe and more in his early days. He played with the Country Gentlemen beginning in the late ’50s, and rose to prominence as their banjoist, playing on numerous albums. Eddie left the Country Gentlemen in 1970 and founded the IInd Generation in 1971, a bluegrass ensemble that also featured Martha, Eddie’s wife, on guitar and vocals.

The Country Gentlemen reunited in 1989 to record Classic Country Gents Reunion for Sugar Hill Records, and the project was named IBMA’s Recorded Event of the Year for 1990. That year he also teamed up with Kenny Baker, Josh Graves and Jesse McReynolds billed as The Masters, with Martha Adcock on guitar. Eddie and Martha continued to record through the years for Pinecastle Records, until he formed his own Radio Therapy Records. Eddie was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of the Country Gentlemen, and he also won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Music in 2014.

Eddie also notably won 34 consecutive drag races with his car, Mr. Banjo. He became an internet sensation at the age of 70 when video circulated showing him undergoing brain surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to address a hand tremor, where he remained conscious and played his banjo throughout the operation, showing surgeons when they had found the spot.

He is survived by wife, Martha, three children: Edward Adcock, Jr., Beatrice Adcock and Dennis Adcock; four grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren. No information has been provided on services at this time.

Dolly Parton’s Husband Carl Dean Passes

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Dolly Parton and Carl Dean

Carl Dean, longtime husband of Dolly Parton, has passed away. He was 82.

Parton shared the news on her social media on Monday (March 3) in a statement. The two married in 1966 and Dean remained out of the public eye for most of their union. They met when she was 18 after passing each other at a Wishy Washy Laundromat, and married two years later. Dean shied away from the limelight during their marriage, preferring to cheer her on from behind the scenes of Parton’s high-watt career throughout their life together. The two never had children.

In her statement Parton said: “Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.

“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”