Born 89 Years Ago Today in the Bluegrass State, the Country Music Pioneer Who Helped Turn a Song Into a Tennessee State Anthem

Banjo prodigy Sonny Osborne, born in eastern Kentucky on 29 October 1937, helped reshape bluegrass with his brother Bobby as the Osborne Brothers. Their best-known song, “Rocky Top”, became a rallying cry for the University of Tennessee Volunteers and was later adopted as a Tennessee state song.

Osborne began playing banjo at 11 and joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys at 14. The brothers expanded bluegrass with amplified instruments and drums, earning commercial success despite criticism from traditionalists; they were named the Country Music Association’s Vocal Group of the Year in 1971 and became the first bluegrass act to perform at the White House in 1973. Sonny retired in 2005 and died in 2021, five days before his 84th birthday.