Joe Bonsall, Grammy Award winner and celebrated tenor of nation and gospel group the Oak Ridge Boys, died Tuesday. He was 76.
Bonsall died from issues of the neuromuscular dysfunction amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), based on an announcement from representatives of his household.
“Joe cherished to sing. He cherished to learn. He cherished to write down,” the assertion learn. “He cherished to play banjo. He cherished engaged on the farm. And he cherished the Philadelphia Phillies. However Jesus and his household at all times got here first — and we are going to see him once more on the Promised Day.”
A Philadelphia native and resident of Hendersonville, Tennessee, Bonsall left his gospel group the Keystones in 1973 to hitch the Oak Ridge Boys, which shaped within the Forties. He noticed the band by means of its golden interval within the ’80s and past, which included its signature 1981 music, “Elvira,” its 1982 hit “Bobbie Sue” and 1983’s “American Made.”
“Elvira” marked a large crossover second for the group, reaching #1 on the nation chart and quantity 5 on Billboard’s all-genre Scorching 100.
ALS is a illness that damages nerve cells and connections which can be essential to regulate muscle groups for actions similar to strolling, speaking and respiratory. Most sufferers die inside three to 5 years of a analysis. The sickness grew to become often called Lou Gehrig’s illness after the star baseball participant was identified in 1939.
Bonsall additionally had a ardour for preventing fraud. In 2019, the Oak Ridge Boys teamed up with the Division of Justice and the AARP Fraud Watch Community to develop a public service announcement to convey consciousness to elder fraud. Along with AARP, the quartet lent their voice to assist shield older Individuals from fraud by means of appearances on Rural America Dwell, posting alerts on social media and sharing fraud prevention ideas at their concert events.
(Left to proper) Joe Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys on the twenty fourth Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 24, 1982 on the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Getty Photographs
In September 2023, the Oak Ridge Boys launched into a farewell tour that was scheduled to final into 2024. However in January, Bonsall introduced his retirement from touring, saying it was too troublesome for him bodily after a four-year battle with ALS. Ben James, who has carried out with Doyle Lawson and Dailey & Vincent, was introduced as his alternative.
“I’m now at a degree the place strolling is unimaginable, so I’ve principally retired from the street. It has simply gotten too troublesome,” Bonsall mentioned on the time of his retirement. “It has been an amazing 50 years, and I’m grateful to all of the Oak Ridge Boys, band, crew and employees for the fixed love and help proven to me by means of all of it. I’ll always remember, and for these of you who’ve been consistently holding me up in prayer, I thanks and ask so that you can carry on praying.”