Bill Monroe (Rosine, Kentucky, 13 september 1911 – Springfield, Tennessee, september 9, 1996) is an American singer-songwriter. He developed the style of music known as bluegrass, named after his band, the Blue Grass Boys, in turn, named after his home state of Kentucky. Monroe career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader.
Biography[Edit][]
His musical career began in the 1930s when he and his older brother Charlie began performing as a duet, the Monroe Brothers. After the brothers parted in 1939 formed Bill as fast the first edition of the Blue Grass Boys on and in the same year he was a regular on the Grand Ole Opry.
If Monroe mandolin player brought a virtuosity in country music , which was unprecedented. In 1945 he took Earl Scruggs to who did the same for the banjo. This group, which includes singer/guitarist Lester Flatt was part, is considered the first real bands in bluegrass.
More than 150 musicians made over the years part of the Blue Grass Boys. Many of these were later star on their own, including: Mac Wiseman, Sonny Osborne, Jimmy Martin, Don Reno, and Carter Stanley.
Bill Monroe was in 1971 included in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, in 1989 in the IBMA Hall of Honor, in 1991 in theInternational Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, in 1997 in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (for his "early influence") and in 2002 in both America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.