Harold Reid (image from YouTube)
Associated Press | Harold Reid, who sang bass for the Grammy-winning country group the Statler Brothers, has died after a long battle with kidney failure. He was 80. Reid died Friday in his hometown of Staunton, Virginia, his nephew Debo Reid said.
The Statler Brothers frequently sang backup for country icon Johnny Cash. Some of their biggest hits included 1965’s “Flowers on the Wall” and 1970’s “Bed of Rose’s.”
Harold Reid was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He was also a comedian.
“He is and will always be loved by his family, friends and millions of fans,” a statement on the band’s website said. “His singing, his songwriting and his comedy made generations happy. He has taken a piece of our hearts with him.”
Reid and three boyhood friends — Lew DeWitt, Phil Balsley and Joe McDorman — formed the Four-Star Quartet in 1948. The group, later known as the Kingsmen, sang mostly gospel music. McDorman quit and was replaced by Don Reid, Harold’s younger brother.
DeWitt once said the group changed its name again because several other acts — all better known — were billed as the Kingsmen. The new name came from a box of Statler tissue, he said.
The quartet switched to country music in 1964, after meeting Cash and joining his road show.
Over the next two decades, the Statlers won three Grammy Awards and were named top vocal groups nine times by the Country Music Association.
He leaves a large and loving family and millions of fans who remember his stage and TV antics with smiles and cherish his music that will live with the ages,” Debo Reid said in a statement.
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths
The deaths that are listed from Wikipedia are those of musicians or who have ties to the music business from all over the world. These are our brothers and sisters. It is so sad to see the listing of just “famous people” who have died from COVID-19, not only musicians but other artists, sports figures, politicians, actors, jurists and so many more. Please stay home – keep YOUR names and those of your loved ones from being added to this list.
April 2020
29: Martin Lovett, 93, English cellist (Amadeus Quartet).
28: David Boe, 84, American organist and pedagogue, COVID-19.
27: Lynn Harrell, 76, American cellist; Troy Sneed, 52, American gospel singer, COVID-19; Scott Taylor, 58, British guitarist (Then Jerico), brain tumour.
26: Big Al Carson, 66, American blues singer, complications from heart attack; Bijay Mishra, 83, Indian lyricist and screenwriter.
25: Alan Abel, 91, American percussionist and music educator, COVID-19; India Adams, 93, American singer and actress; Vytautas Barkauskas, 89, Lithuanian composer; Ray Repp, 77, American CCM singer-songwriter.
24: Hamilton Bohannon, 78, American percussionist, songwriter and record producer; Phil Broadhurst, 70, New Zealand jazz musician, composer and radio presenter; David Daniels, 86, American conductor and author; Nicole Mitchell, recording artist and stage performer; Harold Reid, 80, American singer and songwriter (The Statler Brothers), Grammy winner (1965, 1965, 1972), kidney failure.
23: Andy Ayunir, 53, Indonesian composer; Fred the Godson, 35, American DJ and rapper, COVID-19; Kamit Sanbayev, 78, Kazakh singer (Dos Mukasan).
22: Bootsie Barnes, 82, American jazz saxophonist; El Príncipe Gitano, 88, Spanish flamenco singer and actor, COVID-19; Marcos Mundstock, 77, Argentine musician, comedian and actor (Les Luthiers), brain tumor.
21: Nelu Balasoiu, 71, Romanian folk singer, COVID-19; Derek Jones, 35, American rock guitarist (Falling in Reverse); Jacques Pellen, 63, French jazz guitarist, COVID-19.