Mike Henderson (1953–2023), co-founder of the SteelDrivers
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2 min readMike Henderson was a Grammy Award-winning country singer-songwriter who co-founded the SteelDrivers and frequently collaborated with country superstar Chris Stapleton, Henderson’s former SteelDrivers bandmate.
- Died: September 22, 2023 (Who else died on September 22?)
- Details of death: Died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 70.
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Mike Henderson’s legacy
Henderson was a singer and songwriter who specialized in blues, roots rock, and country. Born in Independence, Missouri, his music career began with the blues act the Bel Airs. He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he played and wrote with bands like the Roosters and the Snakes (formerly the Kingsnakes), playing Americana, roots rock, and country. In July 1986, the Snakes began a weekly gig at the Bluebird Café that lasted for 40 years.
Henderson also played and recorded both as a solo artist and as part of Mike Henderson & the Bluebloods, with whom he recorded three of his five solo records. In 2002, he also toured with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, putting a spotlight on his talents as a musician rather than as a singer-songwriter.
Henderson is arguably best-known as the co-founder of the bluegrass band the SteelDrivers. Their 2008 debut, largely written or co-written by Henderson, featured singer Chris Stapleton. The song "Blue Side of the Mountain” earned them a Grammy nomination. Stapleton left the band in 2010, and Henderson followed in 2011. When Stapleton became a country superstar as a solo act, he continued to work with Henderson, who helped co-write some of Stapleton’s biggest hits – the Grammy Award-winning “Broken Halos,” and “Starting Over,” which won Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
Tributes to Mike Henderson
Full obituary: Variety
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