Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.

[1] The son of Lee and Lucy Smith Stanley, Ralph did not grow up around a lot of music in his home.

[2]After considering a course in "veterinary", he decided instead to join his older guitar-playing brother Carter Stanley (1925–1966) to form the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946.

Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique singing style of the Primitive Baptist Universalist church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the two Stanley brothers began playing on local radio stations.

In fact, James Brown and his band were in the studio when the Stanley Brothers recorded "Finger Poppin' Time".

After Carter died of complications of cirrhosis in 1966, after ailing for "a year or so",[2] Ralph Stanley faced a hard decision on whether to continue performing on his own.

[2] Eventually, his son, Ralph Stanley II, took over as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The Clinch Mountain Boys.

[6] His grandson Nathan Stanley became the last lead singer and band leader for The Clinch Mountain Boys.

[citation needed] About 1970, Ralph Stanley ran for Clerk of Court and Commissioner of Revenue in Dickenson County and said: What happened is, somebody traded me off—they used my popularity and money to elect somebody else.

[5]Stanley's work was featured in the very popular 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death".

"[5]With that song, Stanley won a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

[8][9] He was featured in the Josh Turner hit song "Me and God" released in 2006, the same year he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

On November 10, 2007, Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys performed at a rally for presidential candidate John Edwards in Des Moines, Iowa, just before the Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner.

In June 2013, he announced a farewell tour,[13][7] scheduled to begin in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on October 18 and extending to December 2014.

However, upon notification of being elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (awarded on October 11, 2014) a statement on his own website appeared saying that he would not be retiring.

[15][16][17] Stanley's autobiography, Man of Constant Sorrow which was coauthored with the music journalist Eddie Dean, was released by Gotham Books on October 15, 2009.

[18] On June 23, 2016, Stanley died from skin cancer at his home in Sandy Ridge in Dickenson County, Virginia; he was 89.