MCCLURE, Va. (AP) – Legendary bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley has been laid to rest in his hometown of McClure, Virginia.
Media outlets report that hundreds of friends, neighbors and music fans turned out for Stanley’s funeral Tuesday evening. Stanley died Thursday at the age of 89 after battling skin cancer.
Stanley began playing music in 1946 with his brother, Carter Stanley, as The Stanley Brothers. He later formed The Clinch Mountain Boys. Stanley won a 2002 Grammy Award for the song, “O Death,” which was featured in the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
On Tuesday, artists like Larry Sparks, Judy Marshall and Dan Marshall sang Stanley Brothers classics. Friends and fellow musicians, like Ricky Skaggs and Jim Lauderdale, stood beside Stanley’s flag-draped casket and spoke of his impact.