Ricky Skaggs

Ricky Skaggs played mandolin on stage with Bill Monroe at six, became a country star in the 1980s, then went back to bluegrass with his band Kentucky Thunder. He is in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Career

Skaggs got his first mandolin at five, played on stage with Bill Monroe at six, and at seven appeared on the Martha White show with Flatt & Scruggs. By 1970 he and Keith Whitley were opening for Ralph Stanley, who then took both of them into the Clinch Mountain Boys. He later played fiddle with the Country Gentlemen, and in 1976 formed the progressive bluegrass band Boone Creek, with Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas.

His solo country career, launched in 1980, brought 12 No. 1 hits. In 1982 he joined the Grand Ole Opry, then its youngest member ever. In 1996 he returned to bluegrass, and with Kentucky Thunder has won many Grammy and IBMA awards for best bluegrass album. He entered the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018.

Songs to know

• "Highway 40 Blues"
• "Country Boy"
• "Crying My Heart Out Over You", his first country No. 1
• "Go Rest High on That Mountain", with Vince Gill

Selected albums

Play his instrument: our mandolin guide.