Sonny Osborne | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1937-10-29)October 29, 1937 |
| Died | October 24, 2021(2021-10-24) (aged 83) |
| Known for | "Rocky Top" |
| Spouse | Judy |
| Family | Bobby Osborne (brother) |
| Musical career | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1951–2005 |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
Sonny Osborne (October 29, 1937 – October 24, 2021) was an American bluegrass musician and founding member of theOsborne Brothers.
Born on October 29, 1937, inThousandsticks, Kentucky,[1] Sonny Osborne's father was a farmer, teacher, and amateurbanjo, guitar, andfiddle player. His older brother Bobby began playingbluegrass music after the family moved toDayton, Ohio in 1941.[2] Circa August 2021, when Osborne suffered astroke, he was married to his wife, Judy. He died at around 1:30 p.m.[3] at home inHendersonville, Tennessee on October 24, 2021.[1]
Osborne was abaritone singer who played multiple types ofbanjos over his 53-year musical career.[3]
Osborne was in thesixth grade when he received his first banjo. A prodigy on the instrument,[4] Osborne joined his brother in playing with theLonesome Pine Fiddlers in the summer of 1951, but returned to Ohio that autumn after Bobby left for theUnited States Marine Corps. In summer 1952 (at 14-years-old),[2] Sonny Osborne was hired bybluegrass pioneerBill Monroe, with whom he performed and recorded on theGrand Ole Opry. Barring a brief return to Ohio, Osborne stayed with Monroe into 1953.[3]
When Osborne's brother, singer andmandolin playerBobby Osborne, returned home in 1953 from service in theKorean War, they formed theOsborne Brothers band (1953–2005).[4] They premiered onKnoxville, Tennessee'sWROL on November 8, 1953; in their early years, they also performed onWheeling Jamboree.[3] The brothers andJimmy Martin recorded twelve singles[4] forRCA Records beginning in 1954. After Martin left due to interpersonal conflict,Red Allen joined the brothers in 1956, and the three later signed withMGM Records, though the record label was reluctant to invest heavily in the trio due to the then-rising popularity ofrock and roll. Allen left in 1958 after the release of "Once More", after which the brothers marketed themselves simply as the Osborne Brothers.[2]
When performing atAntioch College in 1960, the brothers became the first bluegrass group to perform for a university audience. In 1963, they debuted at theGrand Ole Opry, signed withDecca Records, and evolved their sound with the mildly-successful release of "Up This Hill and Down": "bluegrass [, ...] kind ofbluesy and a little bit ofrock."[2]
It was 1967 when the brothers recorded and released their famous song, "Rocky Top" (written byFelice and Boudleaux Bryant)[4] with 80,000 sales in its first month. At the same time, however, the pair found themselves under scrutiny and attack by bluegrass purists for perceived derivations from the tradition. Osborne Brothers albums had gradually included additional non-standard elements to their bluegrass, includingpedal steel guitars,pianos, andstring sections; the brothers had amplified their instruments for larger live performances, with Sonny Osborne padlocking hisresonator "to keep the details of hispickup a secret"; and Sonny Osborne had patented asix-string banjo. Sonny and Bobby defended themselves inBluegrass Unlimited, saying they were trying to broaden the sensibilities of bluegrass music, while also trying to find a place for bluegrass music in contemporary pop culture.[2]
In the early 1970s, the two performed while traveling 291,000 miles (468,000 km) in 26 months.[2] In 1971, they won theCountry Music Association Award for Vocal Group of the Year; two years later they were the first bluegrass group to perform at theWhite House.[4]
Osborne was amember of theGrand Ole Opry (1964) and inductee to theBluegrass Music Hall of Fame (1994). After retiring in 2005 due torotator cuff surgery,[3] Osborne wrote a regular column forBluegrass Today and continued to correspond with fans. At the time of his death, Osborne was signed withCompass Records.[4]
Osborne creditedEarl Scruggs with much of his base banjo technique, though he eventually incorporated "steel licks, piano licks, and horns and anything I can hear." By the late 1970s, he eschewed melodic licks, saying that though chromatics must be an easier technique than those he learned, they were disadvantaging young players.[2]
Alongside his brother, Osborne was the driving force behind theirelectrifying bluegrass instruments, creating banjolicks cribbed from other genres, "and completely reinventing bluegrass harmonies with the famous stacked trio vocals."[3]
He and his brother, Bobby, pioneered a style of three-part harmony singing that broke with bluegrass tradition. He was also an influential banjo player.
