Influential bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice dead at 69

Influential bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice died Friday at his home in North Carolina. He was 69.

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“It is with a heavy heart we say goodbye to one of the most iconic voices and musicians in bluegrass,” the International Bluegrass Association said Saturday on social media. “Few will ever match his skill and influence.”

Rice got his start as a member of J.D. Crowe’s New South in the 1970s. He later performed with the David Grisman Band, the Bluegrass Album Band and the Tony Rice Unit. He also collaborated with Jerry Garcia and Bela Fleck.

Rice was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame in 2013. He had not played guitar publicly since his induction because of medical conditions. He had not sung since 1994 because of a muscle-tension dysphonia diagnosis, Variety reported.

He won a Grammy Award in 1983 for best country instrumental performance for the song “Fireball.”

Musicians shared their condolences on social media.

Ricky Skaggs, who played with Rice in the New South and later on a duet album, called him a guitar hero.

“Tony Rice was 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,” Skaggs wrote in a lengthy statement posted on social media. “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. When I joined the group The New South in 1974, I knew I’d found a singing soul mate with Tony. Our voices blended like brothers. In 1980, we recorded the album ‘Skaggs And Rice’ for Sugar Hill as a tribute to our duet heroes with just the simplicity of guitar, mandolin, and our voices. All these years later people tell me how much the purity of that record still touches their heart. That’s who Tony was, a singer from the heart.”

Fleck also reflected on his time with Rice.

“We’re gonna miss you Tony Rice. Never equaled,” Fleck wrote on social media. “Playing with Tony was like climbing aboard a magic carpet. His rhythm playing set you free.”

Cox Media Group