Bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley dies

Ralph Stanley, one of the founding fathers and great originals of American bluegrass music, died on Thursday. He was 89.

His grandson, Nathan, posted on his Facebook page that Ralph Stanley died after a long battle with skin cancer. His publicist, Kirt Webster, also confirmed the news to the Associated Press.

Partnered with his older brother Carter, tenor singer and banjo player Stanley helped develop the “high lonesome” sound of bluegrass, the virtuosic string band music established in the late 1940s by singer-mandolinist Bill Monroe and his dissident sidemen, guitarist Lester Flatt and banjoist Earl Scruggs.

The flinty Stanley always backed away from the “bluegrass” label, however, choosing to associate his highly personalized style with a more venerable type of music.

Winner of three Grammy Awards, Stanley was honoured with the National Medal of the Arts in 2006.