Born 73 Years Ago Today in Nashville, the Grammy-Winning Guitarist, Producer, and Son of a Bluegrass Legend Who Played With Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash
Randy Scruggs, the Nashville-born guitarist, producer and songwriter, was born on 3 August 1953, the middle son of bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs. Over a career spanning several decades, he became one of Music City's most in-demand session musicians and producers, working with stars including Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, George Strait and Waylon Jennings, earning four Grammy Awards and three Musician of the Year honours from the Country Music Association.
Scruggs began playing music at six, learning on Maybelle Carter's autoharp before switching to guitar, and made his first public appearance aged nine alongside his father and Lester Flatt. He went on to form the Earl Scruggs Revue with his father and brothers, wrote hit songs for Earl Thomas Conley, opened his own Nashville studio in 1979, and produced acclaimed projects such as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Grammy-winning Will the Circle Be Unbroken II. He died on 17 April 2018, aged 64, following a brief illness.
- Randy Scruggs, Grammy-winning guitarist and producer, born 3 August 1953 in Nashville.
- Son of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs; worked with Parton, Cash and Strait.
- Died in April 2018, aged 64, after a brief illness.