Randy Scruggs, Award-Winning Musician and Songwriter, Dead at 64

Source: Rolling Stone

Multi-award-winning guitarist, producer, songwriter and studio owner Randy Scruggs died Tuesday, April 17th, following a brief illness, according to Music Row. He was 64.

A four-time Grammy winner who earned trophies for his instrumental work from 1989 to 2001, Scruggs was named CMA Musician of the Year in 1999, 2003 and 2006. As a producer he led recordings by Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Toby Keith, Alison Krauss and many others. The staggering list of artists on whose records he played included Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, George Strait, Bobby Bare, Charlie Daniels, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Ricky Skaggs, Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, John Hartford, Vern Gosdin,Rosanne Cash, Pam Tillis, Marty Stuart, Bruce Hornsby, Miranda Lambert, Wilco and the Dixie Chicks.

Randy Scruggs was born in 1953, the younger brother of musician Gary Scruggs and older brother to Steve Scruggs, who died in 1992. Their parents were banjo great Earl Scruggs and pioneering business manager Louise Scruggs, who passed away in 2012 and 2006, respectively. At just 9 years old, Scruggs appeared alongside his father and partner Lester Flatt on the pair's popular syndicated TV series. Only four years later he was participating in his first recording session.

As a rock duo, Randy and Gary Scruggs recorded two albums for Vanguard Records in 1969 and '70, then formed the progressive country-rock band the Earl Scruggs Revue with the elder musician at the helm. A 1979 single by the group, "I Could Sure Use the Feeling," peaked in the Top 30.

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/randy-scruggs-musician-and-songwriter-dead-at-64-w519271