Influential bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice died at his home on December 25, 2020. He was 69 years old.

“Tony Rice was the single most influential acoustic guitar player in the last 50 years. Many, if not all, of the bluegrass guitar players of today would say that they cut their teeth on Tony Rice’s music. He loved hearing the next generation players play his licks. I think that’s where he got most of his joy as a player,” his former collaborator Ricky Skaggs said.

Born in Danville, Virginia on June 8, 1951, Rice grew up in Los Angeles. His father, Herb Rice, played mandolin and was a founding member of the Golden State Boys. In the early ‘70s Rice and his brother Larry played with the Kentucky Mountain Boys. When Larry left the band, Skaggs joined and they renamed themselves J.D. Crowe & The New South.

Back in California, Rice joined the David Grisman Quintet where his style expanded to include jazz and folk. He spent years performing with a variety of groups and as a solo act. He continued working with Skaggs, as well as with Grisman and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on The Pizza Tapes album.

In 1994, he became afflicted by muscle tension dysphonia and could no longer sing live, but continued playing guitar until 2014.

Rice won a Grammy in 1983 for Best Country Instrumental Performance and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2013.