On behalf of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, we offer our deepest condolences to Gary, Randy and the entire Earl Scruggs family upon the passing of their father and beloved one.

The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is honored to have Earl Scruggs, one of the greatest Blue Grass music and banjo musician in the World, as a permanent member. We will be forever grateful to him for his outstanding contributions to the music history of North Carolina [...]

Michael English is one of the premier solo singers in Southern Gospel and Contemporary Christian music. Born April 12, 1953 in Kenansville, North Carolina into a family gospel group, he was raised in North East, near Wallace, North Carolina. The family group, known as The Singing Samaritans, was led by his parents, Aubine and Grace English.

After high school, Michael joined the Singing Americans then, in 1982 joined the Goodmans then the Gospel Couriers before he rejoined The Singing Americans and [...]

Maceo Parker was the saxophonist in the groups that laid down the foundation of funk, rap and hip hop. He attended college in North Carolina but graduated from the University of James Brown. When he was on James Brown’s funky soul funk train James could be heard saying “Maceo, I want you to Blow!” when it came time for a solo. This band was the early pioneer of modern funk and hip-hop.

Maceo also played with another pioneer of funk, rap [...]

John D. Loudermilk, born in Durham, North Carolina, is one of the great songwriters in American music, writing hits in both the pop and country fields.

Born March 31, 1934, John D. Loudermilk grew up in a family who were members of the Salvation Army and he was strongly influenced by church singing. His cousins were The Louvin Brothers, Ira and Charlie Loudermilk who changed their name to Louvin. He began his songwriting career as a teenager when he wrote a [...]

Clyde Moody was a premier singer and instrumentalist in bluegrass. Born September 19, 1915 in Cherokee, North Carolina, he grew up at a time when brother duets were popular in country music and during the mid-1930s joined with Jay Hugh Hall to form the Happy-Go-Lucky Boys in WSPA in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He joined J.E. Mainer’s Mountaineers in late 1938 and then joined Wade Mainer and became part of the Sons of the Mountaineers who worked regularly on WPTF in [...]

Billy Edd Wheeler is a long-time resident (48 years and counting) of Swannanoa, North Carolina. He is perhaps best known for a song he wrote and recorded, “Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back,” which was a top five country hit in 1964 and reached the top 50 on the pop chart. As an artist, Billy Edd has had chart singles with “I Ain’t the Worryin’ Kind” (1968), “West Virginia Woman” and “Fried Chicken and a Country Tune” (1968), [...]

Billy “Crash” Craddock was born June 16, 1939 in Greensboro, North Carolina and earned the nickname “Crash” while he was a running back on his high school football team.

After high school, Craddock and his brother formed a band, The Four Rebels, and their first single, for a local record label in Greensboro, was “Smacky-Mouth.” His next single, on Colonial Records, was “Birddoggin’,” then he released “Ah, Poor Little Baby” on Date Records.

The young, handsome Craddock was signed by Columbia Records [...]

Ben Folds is a multi-talented singer, songwriter and instrumentalist who is a leading figure in alternative rock. Born September 12, 1966 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Folds was influenced by Elton John and Billy Joel during his early years.

After high school, Folds and Millard Powers formed Majosha and released several recordings; Folds played bass. After Majosha, Folds formed Pots and Pans with Evan Olson on bass and Britt “Snuzz” Uzzell on guitar and vocals; Folds played drums.

In 1990, Folds signed a songwriting deal with Scott [...]

Opera tenor Anthony Dean Griffey was born in High Point, North Carolina and holds degrees from Wingate University, the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School and was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Program. He has won four Grammys and received both critical and popular acclaim for his performances.

Anthony Dean Griffey has performed leading roles at great international opera houses including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne, the [...]

Ronnie Lee Milsap was born on January 16, 1943 in the Great Smokey Mountain town of Robbinsville North Carolina.

Being born with congenital glaucoma, Ronnie lost his eyesight early and was moved to a school for the blind in Raleigh North Carolina. There he spent 12 years learning violin and piano. He became versatile in a variety of instruments including guitar and other stringed instruments. Eventually, he became interested in rock ‘n’ roll and while still in school formed a rock [...]