Bill Emerson (1938–2021), legendary bluegrass banjo player
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2 min readBill Emerson was a Bluegrass Hall of Fame banjo player who was a founding member of The Country Gentlemen.
- Died: Saturday, August 21, 2021, according to Bluegrass Today. (Who else died on August 21?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 83 from complications of pneumonia, according to a post on his official Facebook page.
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Bluegrass Legend
Bill Emerson was a bluegrass legend who is considered to be one of the greatest banjo players in music history. He was a founding member of The Country Gentlemen in 1957 and then became a prominent sideman. He was a member of Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys from 1962 until 1967 and left to team up with guitarist Cliff Waldron for the duo Emerson & Waldron. He joined up again with The Country Gentlemen and then joined the Navy in 1973. In the Navy, he started the Country Current, the first military band dedicated to bluegrass. Besides being an incredible banjo player, he was also an outstanding harmony vocalist. Emerson was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2019.
Tributes to Bill Emerson
Full Obituary: Bluegrass Today
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