Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB
Bill Monroe
Sign in to saveAlso known as William Smith Monroe, Billy Monroe, Albert Price, Joe Ahr, James B. Smith, Wilbur Jones
American bluegrass musician, songwriter (1911-1996)
OverviewAI-generated
Bill Monroe was an American singer, singer-songwriter, composer, and mandolinist born in Rosine, Kentucky, on September 13, 1911. He was a male figure in the 20th century who performed bluegrass, country, folk, and americana music. His vocal and instrumental work was recorded by RCA Records, and his copyrights were represented by Broadcast Music, Inc. Monroe began his professional work period in 1927 and spoke English.
He died from a stroke in Springfield on September 9, 1996, due to natural causes. His siblings included Birch Monroe. Monroe received the Peabody Awards, the National Medal of Arts, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and recognition in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also recognized in the Peabody Award collection and the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame collection.
Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Rosine, Kentucky, USA
William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its name from his band, the Blue Grass Boys, who named their group for the bluegrass of Monroe's home state of Kentucky.
Known for
- Newport and the Great Folk Dream — Self (archive footage)2025
- Big Family: The Story of Bluegrass Music — Self (archive footage)2019
- The Porchlight Sessions — Self2017
- Opry Video Classics: Pioneers — Self (archive footage)2007
- Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music — Self1993
- High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music — Self1992
- Yesteryear in Nashville — Self1982
- Scruggs: A Festival of Music — Self1972
- The Johnny Cash Show — Self1969
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Origin
- United States
- Active from
- 1911-09-13
- Active to
- 1996-09-09
Discography
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 113,875
- Total plays
- 1,035,708
Tags
Bill Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) developed the style of country music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for his home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. He is often referred to as "the father of bluegrass." In the rock (and roll) community, Bill Monroe may be best known via one of Elvis Presley's earliest recordings at Sun Records, that of Monr
Key facts
- Born
- William Smith Monroe , ( 1911-09-13 ) September 13, 1911, Rosine, Kentucky , U.S.
- Origin
- Kentucky, U.S.
- Died
- September 9, 1996 (1996-09-09) (aged 84), Springfield, Tennessee , U.S.
- Genres
- Country bluegrass gospel blues folk
- Instruments
- Mandolin , guitar
- Years active
- 1927–1996
- Labels
- Bluebird Columbia Decca MCA RCA Victor
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Rosine
- Place of death
- Springfield
- Occupation
- bandleader
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Genre
- bluegrass music
- Instrument
- voice
- Record label
- RCA Records
- Sport
- baseball
- Image
- MonroeBrothers.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- date of birth
- 1911-09-13
- date of death
- 1996-09-09
- Commons category
- Bill Monroe
- cause of death
- stroke
- manner of death
- natural causes
- start of work period
- 1927-00-00
- copyright representative
- Broadcast Music, Inc.
- time period
- 20th century
via Wikidata · CC0
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William Smith Monroe (/mənˈroʊ/ mən-ROH; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. For this reason, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
The genre takes its name from his band, the Blue Grass Boys, who named their group for the bluegrass of Monroe's home state of Kentucky. He described the genre as "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Bill Monroe” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.