American country and bluegrass singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and composer Rickie Lee Skaggs, better known as Ricky Skaggs, was born July 18, 1954.
Skaggs grew up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky in Cordell, in a hollow (sheltered valley) called Brushy Creek.
His father, Hobert Skaggs, have him his first mandolin at the age of five and taught him the G, C and D chords. That same day, Hobert returned from work and was surprised to see his young son making chord changes and singing along.
Young Ricky quickly earned a reputation among the people in his local community. When bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe arrived to Martha, Kentucky for a concert, the crowd wouldn’t stop until “Little Ricky Skaggs” was invited to play. Monroe, known as the father of bluegrass, called six-year-old Ricky Skaggs up and placed his own mandolin around his neck, adjusting the strap to fit his child frame. By age seven, Skaggs performed with bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs on their high profile syndicated television show, earning his first paycheck for a musical performance.
He quit making music to work full time at the Virginia Electric & Power Company to support his first wife. Nonetheless, he had an unexpected meeting with country singer Emmylou Harris at a “fiddle picking” party in 1974 that brought him back to performing music.
Emmylou Harris offered Ricky a job playing fiddle with her Hot Band, but he turned down the offer and stated that he would never work again in a band where he couldn’t sing. That was when he received the proposal to join New South (Lexington, Kentucky), one of the most thrilling bands in bluegrass at the time.
Ricky promptly began to build a reputation for creativity and excitement through live performances and recordings with acts such as J.D. Crowe & the New South. He performed on New South’s 1975 debut album for Rounder Records, which is broadly regarded as one of the most influential bluegrass albums made at the time. On the other hand, Skaggs’ innovative style dissatisfied the old-timers. New South performed what was known then as “newgrass.”
From there, Skaggs created the Boone Creek band (featuring a young Vince Gill), an outfit that was experimenting with a musical mix of pickers and singers.
Eventually, Skaggs left Boone Creek and flew to Los Angeles every few weeks at a time to perform, record and sing with Emmylou Harris in Hot Band. Moving away from his bluegrass roots and into the world of mainstream country music, Skaggs made his way to major mainstream fame.
With his first number one hit, “Crying My Heart Out over You” (in Dec. 1981), Skaggs had the attention of a bigger audience than ever before. With the release of “Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine” in 1981, Skaggs reached the top of the country charts and remained there throughout most of the 1980s, resulting in a total of twelve number one hits.
In 1982, he became the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry to be inducted at that time. As his popularity soared, he acquired eight awards from the Country Music Association, including “Entertainer of the Year” in 1985, four Grammy Awards and dozens of other honors.
Skaggs later returned to his roots and bluegrass music. In 1997, after Ricky’s recording contract was coming to an end, he made the decision to establish his own record label, Skaggs Family Records. Since then, Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder have released a series of GRAMMY winning classics.
In 2013, Ricky Skaggs published a memoir titled Kentucky Traveler: My Life in Music (It Books; August 13, 2013). The book tells the intimate stories of a career built on passion, respect, and faith, and shares tales of his musical heroes and influences (from Bill Monroe to Ray Charles, Billy Graham, Ralph Stanley, and Earl Scruggs). In addition to releasing his autobiography, Skaggs teamed up once more with Bruce Hornsby for a live concert album titled, Cluck Ol’ Hen (Skaggs Family Records).
Over the course of his 40 plus year career, Ricky Skaggs has won numerous GRAMMY, CMA Awards, ACM Awards, IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association), ICM Awards, and Dove awards.
In September 2015, Skaggs received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association in the Instrumentalist category.
Skaggs is a highly respected producer. Some of his work includes sets from artists such as The Whites and Dolly Parton, and “Love Remains” by Hillary Scott & The Scott Family, which won him his 15th Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album as a producer.
2018 was an exceptional year for Skaggs. He was inducted to three more Halls of Fame: National Fiddler Hall of Fame, IBMA’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and country music’s greatest acknowledgment, the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 2020, Ricky received the illustrious National Medal of Arts for his contributions to the American music industry. It is the highest honor given to artists and arts benefactors by the United States government.
In 2022, Ricky Skaggs and fellow Kentucky native Steven Curtis Chapman raised over $200,000 for victims of the devastating Mayfield, Kentucky tornado via Samaritan’s Purse at their sold-out benefit concert. Held February 20 at Heartland Church in Chapman’s hometown of Paducah, the uplifting evening also included performances by Jason Crabb, Larry Stewart and more.
“I want to thank all the folks who came out and supported the benefit for Mayfield, Kentucky last Sunday night. We thank our sponsors. We couldn’t have done this show without you. I believe God blessed all of our efforts,” stated Skaggs.
Skaggs is, today, known as the “Ambassador of Bluegrass.”
(headline image: Ricky Skaggs – Photo by Russ Carson / 81Crowe)
Discography:
Second Generation Bluegrass, with Keith Whitley (Rebel Records, 1971)
That’s It! (Rebel Records, 1975)
That Down Home Feeling, with Buck White & The Down Home Folks (Ridge Runner Records, 1977)
One Way Track, with Boone Creek (Sugar Hill Records, 1978)
Sweet Temptation (Sugar Hill Records, 1979)
Skaggs & Rice, with Tony Rice (Sugar Hill Records, 1980)
Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine (Sugar Hill/Epic Records, 1981)
Family & Friends (Rounder Records, 1982)
Highways & Heartaches (Sugar Hill/Epic Records, 1982)
Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown (Sugar Hill/Epic Records, 1983)
Country Boy October (Epic Records, 1984)
Live in London (Epic Records, 1985)
Love’s Gonna Get Ya! (Epic Records, 1986)
Comin’ Home to Stay (Epic Records, 1988)
Kentucky Thunder (Epic Records, 1989)
My Father’s Son (Epic Records, 1991)
Solid Ground (Atlantic Records, 1995)
Life Is a Journey (Atlantic Records, 1997)
Bluegrass Rules!, with Kentucky Thunder (Rounder Records, 1997)
Ancient Tones, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 1999)
Soldier of the Cross, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 1999)
Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe (Skaggs Family, 2000)
History of the Future, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 2001)
Ricky Skaggs and Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe (Lyric Street Records, 2002)
The Three Pickers, with Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson (Rounder Records, 2003)
Live at the Charleston Music Hall, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 2003)
Brand New Strings, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 2004)
A Skaggs Family Christmas: Volume One (Skaggs Family, 2005)
Instrumentals, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 2006)
Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby (Legacy Recordings, 2007)
Salt of the Earth, with The Whites (Skaggs Family, 2007)
Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 2008)
Solo (Songs My Dad Loved) (Skaggs Family, 2009)
Mosaic (Skaggs Family, 2010)
Country Hits Bluegrass Style (Skaggs Family, 2011)
A Skaggs Family Christmas: Volume Two (Skaggs Family, 2011)
Music to My Ears, with Kentucky Thunder (Skaggs Family, 2012)
Cluck Ol’ Hen, with Bruce Hornsby (Skaggs Family, 2013)
Hearts Like Ours, with Sharon White (Skaggs Family, 2014)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.