[2] Delia Bell was born Francis Leona Nowell on April 16, 1935, in Bonham, Texas.
She started playing music with her sisters and brother as a child, and began singing in her teens.
[2] Emmylou Harris picked up Bell's solo album Bluer Than Midnight at a California record shop.
[5] Impressed by Bell's version of Ruth Franks' song "Roses In The Snow", Harris recorded it as the title track of her 1980 bluegrass album.
[10][11] During the 1980s, Bell and Grant recorded three albums for Rounder featuring accompaniment and harmonies by members of the Johnson Mountain Boys and Del McCoury.
[2] In 2006, Grant received the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Distinguished Achievement award.
[15][16] In 1987, Bell and Grant also launched a March Early Bird Bluegrass Show, which was staged annually for almost 20 years.