Ricky Skaggs Biography

Rickie Lee Skaggs, professionally known as Ricky Skaggs, was born in Cordell, Kentucky. He is an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, and composer. He plays mandolin, fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo. Skaggs started playing music at age 5 after his father, Hobert, gave him a mandolin. At age 6, he played mandolin and sang on stage with Bill Monroe. He appeared on television’s Martha White country music variety show, playing with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs at age 7. He was too young to audition for Grand Ole Opry at that time. In his mid-teens, Skaggs met a fellow teen guitarist, Keith Whitley, and the two started playing together with Whitley’s banjoist brother Dwight on radio shows. By 1970, they had earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley, and Skaggs and Keith Whitley were invited to join Stanley’s band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. Skaggs later joined The Country Gentleman in Washington, D.C., J.D. Crowe’s New South. Skaggs then formed progressive bluegrass band Boone Creek, including members Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas in 1976. Skaggs was a member of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band for a few years and he wrote the arrangements for Harris’ 1980 bluegrass-roots album, Roses in the Snow. In addition to arranging for Harris, Skaggs sang harmony and played mandolin and fiddle in the Hot Band. In 1980, Skaggs launched his country career, achieving 12 #1 hits, 8 CMA awards, and 8 ACM awards. In 1982, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, the youngest to ever be inducted at that time. Guitarist and producer Chet Atkins credited Skaggs with single-handedly saving country music. In the 1990s and 2000s, Skaggs went back to his bluegrass roots, and also experimented with new sounds. With his band, Kentucky Thunder, he is a perennial winner of Grammy Awards and International Bluegrass Music Association for best bluegrass album. In 2000, he shared the stage with Vermont-based jam band, Phish. On March 20, 2007, Skaggs released an album with rock musician Bruce Hornsby. In 2008, Skaggs released an album he recorded with The Whites on his Skaggs Family Records label. In 2011, Skaggs with other Bluegrass musicians featured with Irish band, The Brock McGuire Band on their album 'Green Grass Blue Grass'. An exploration of the connection between Irish Traditional Music and American Bluegrass and Appalachian music. Also in 2011, Skaggs contributed to Moody Bluegrass TWO...Much Love, a bluegrass tribute album to the British Progressive Rock band The Moody Blues. Skaggs sang lead vocal on the song You And Me. In 2012, Skaggs collaborated with Barry Gibb on the song, Soldier's Son which was released on Music to My Ears. Skaggs toured with Ry Cooder, Sharon White and other members of The Whites in 2015.

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