I received word just now that Tony Rice passed away, don’t know any more details than that, but it’s a sad day.
Tony Rice–RIP
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such a wonderful musician
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How awful! Praying for his family. If anyone receives any more info please share
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Oh no! Terrible news!! Praying for all his family and friends!
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Sad news. We should hear more at this link pretty soon…
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A sad loss indeed.
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Was just on my way here to post this.
What a massive influence he had on the music…
I always loved this…
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So sad to hear. RIP.
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Thank you for the music, Mr. Rice. What a beautiful life and legacy. Let’s keep pickin’ in his honor.
Bill Phillips
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I’m really sad to hear this
I look forward to seeing you in heaven someday, Tony. RIP
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Oh no, Sad news. And at Christmas time. I pray for the family to be comforted by God’s Holy Spirit during their time of grieving.
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The Heavenly Band just got a lot better.
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Goodbye to the most skillful bluegrass guitar picker ever to live. He was with the guitar what Earl was with the banjo. Who knows what bluegrass guitar would sound like without Tony Rice and Doc Watson!
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Where the Soul of Man Never Does is just so well done. Rice and Skaggs harmonize perfectly together and the instruments compliment each other and the voices seamlessly. I love the Tony Rice smile at the end too.
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Oh man, he was the best Any idea what he died from? So intresting that he died on Christmas day…
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Sad day indeed. This one hit hard. I saw TRU and Bluegrass Album Band many times in the mid 80’s at Dahlonega, Denton, Moonshadow, Variety Playhouse…etc.
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On my cabin wall hangs a picture that was taken by a flip phone. It’s fuzzy, but it’s one of my most prized possessions because it’s me and my guitar hero, Tony Rice.
In 2004 I moved to Nashville and started working numerous jobs, one of those being a gift shop employee at the Grand Ole Opry. I’d walk the aisles before the shows would start, hawking Opry Picture History Books to music-hungry tourists. Of course, the biggest reason I worked there was to get close to that iconic stage and the folks that graced it.
As employees we were forbidden to approach Opry artists. We could lose our job, but I couldn’t help myself one day in 2005 just outside the artist entrance. It was worth the risk to say hello to my hero and briefly tell him what he meant to me! I didn’t ask him for a picture, but he asked if I’d like one and I leapt at the chance.
Tony passed away Christmas morning and my heart is sad with the news. There are many brilliant tributes to the man. This is not one of those–just a story of how my life intersected with a humble genius revered by so many. He wouldn’t have remembered meeting me, but I’ll never forget it. And from what I’ve heard from some friends, I believe we’ll meet again one day.
I have near 200 guitar lessons on the site. There are just a handful that don’t have Tony’s fingerprints on them. Lord, thank you for the gift of Tony Rice. Join me in praying for his family during this time.
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I am sorry to hear that. I knew his brother Larry and his Uncle Frank Poindexter. Somehow the Rice family is connected to Mom’s side (through the Poindexters), but I don’t know how. I know Larry died of cancer.
Robert
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