Master of the bluegrass banjo, J D Crowe, passes away

JD Crowe

Grammy-winning bluegrass musician JD Crowe, whose influential career spanned more than 50 years, has passed away. He was 84. Son David confirmed the death in a message, which read, "We just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. As great a musician as dad was, he was even better as a husband, father and friend."

Crowe died on Friday of undisclosed causes, the family earlier announced via Facebook. Born James Dee Crowe in 1937, his career included stints with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys, Mac Wiseman and his own band, the Kentucky Mountain Boys, which later became the New which later became the New South.

According to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, his path was set in 1949 when, at the age of 12, he heard Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys play at a barn dance in Lexington. "Crowe was an innovator on the banjo and influenced countless musicians with his technique and style," read a post on the website of the Owensboro, Kentucky-based hall, where Crowe was inducted in 2003.

Social media tributes poured in from the music world. "He was an absolute legend," eclectic bluegrass guitarist Billy Strings wrote on Twitter. "He will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play bluegrass music. He had tone, taste and timing like no other." Crowe won a Grammy award in 1983 for best country instrumental performance for his song, Fireball.

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